Usain Bolt on his newborn twins and becoming a father of three: 'I still can't believe it'
Usain Bolt wanted to do things differently this time around.
When his girlfriend, Kasi Bennett, was pregnant with the couple's first child in early 2020, Bolt announced the news on his Instagram account. And a lot of unnecessary stress followed, he recalled – especially as his daughter, Olympia Lightning, was born a bit earlier than expected.
So this time, Bolt and Bennett decided to keep the latest expansion of their family a secret.
"We just tried to keep (the news) down as much as possible, until she was really comfortable with people knowing," Bolt told USA TODAY Sports.
It worked. The world didn't know about the arrival of Bolt and Bennett's twin boys – Saint Leo and Thunder – until Father's Day last month, when the couple posted pictures of their family on social media. The twins are now a little more than two months old, he said.
"I still can't believe it, you know what I mean?" Bolt said with a smile. "I'm like, 'oh my God, I have three kids. I just had one!' "
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This summer's Olympics will be the first Summer Games since 2000 without Bolt, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all-time. The 34-year-old retired in 2017, after sweeping the 100- and 200-meter dash at the Rio Games, and has since moved on to other pursuits, including music and soccer.
More recently, though, Bolt's primary focus has been on being a Dad – especially now that the children in his household now outnumber their parents.
"It's good because I've had the experience with Olympia," Bolt said, when asked about how life has changed since the birth of Saint Leo and Thunder. "But we have gotten help now to make sure, because it's a lot. But for me, I'm excited, just to watch them grow and see what they become."
Bolt spoke to USA TODAY Sports on behalf of CarMax, which recently approached him with an endorsement opportunity and unique challenge. Later this month, he'll try to run a distance that's unfamiliar to him – 800 meters – in less than two minutes, which is how long the used car retailer says it takes for users to get an appraisal offer.
Bolt said he's run the 800 in training and his personal best is 2:05 – but that was in shoes, rather than racing spikes. He hopes the footware switch and some recent training will help him get under that two-minute mark.
"It's a challenge. It's something I've never done before," Bolt siad. "So for me, it excites me, because I like a challenge and I'm very competitive. So for me, I was like, let's go."
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Usain Bolt discusses fatherhood and newborn twins Saint Leo, Thunder
