MELBOURNE: Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt eased into his first training session with Australia’s Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday and said he was ready to prove the doubters wrong by winning a professional football contract.

Monitored by a big media pack, Bolt, who turned 32 on Tuesday, emerged at Central Coast stadium with his prospective team-mates, flashing a big grin as he kicked the ball around during a light session in the sleepy seaside town of Gosford.

The eight-time Olympic gold medallist has been given an open-ended trial with the Mariners.

Bolt, who retired from athletics at the world championships in London last year, has already trained with Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Norway’s Stromsgodset.

“I’m here. For me, people are always going to say what they want to say,” he said. “Just like when I was in track and field, people said a lot of things about me but I always proved them wrong. So, It’s just another moment for me to prove people wrong.”

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2018