KINGSTON • Athletics great and eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt and his long-time girlfriend Kasi Bennett welcomed their first child on Sunday, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed in a congratulatory tweet.
"Congratulations to our sprint legend Usain Bolt and Kasi Bennett on the arrival of their baby girl," he tweeted on Monday.
Bolt, the only sprinter to win the 100m and 200m golds at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016), had previously said he would advise his future children against following in his footsteps.
"That's going to be hard for my kid. If they want to do it, I'm fine with it. But initially I'm going to say don't do it, because I know the pressure that will come along with it," the 33-year-old said during the weekend of Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
But his mother Jennifer told The Gleaner that she is hopeful her granddaughter will take up running.
"I am happy, happy, and you can say, happier," she said on Monday.
"I hope the athletic genes will be in her so I could see her, even at sports day, giving us the thrill of seeing her compete."
An 11-gold world champion, Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships in London where he suffered a hamstring injury in the final race of his career.
The 100m and 200m world record holder confirmed on social media in March that he and Bennett were expecting a daughter, jokingly warning any future suitors to watch out.
"Any man! Any boy! Don't play with me!" he said.
REUTERS
