Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt tests positive for COVID-19

Usain Bolt won gold medals in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash at three consecutive Olympic Games from 2008-2016.

Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt has tested positive for COVID-19, a top Jamaican public health official confirmed in a news conference Monday night.

Christopher Tufton, the country’s health minister, said Bolt has been formally notified of the positive test by Jamaican authorities. The sprinter previously said in a statement on social media Monday that he took a COVID-19 test on Saturday, one day after celebrating his 34th birthday, and was waiting on the result.

« I’m trying to be responsible, so I’m going to stay in and stay away from my friends, » Bolt said in the message, which he posted early Monday afternoon. « I’m having no symptoms (but) am going to quarantine myself. »

Usain Bolt celebrates winning the gold medal in the men’s 200m in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo: Rob Schumacher, USA TODAY Sports)

One of the most decorated track athletes in Olympic history, Bolt won gold medals in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash at three consecutive Olympic Games from 2008 to 2016, becoming the first man to accomplish that feat. He also was part of Jamaican relay teams that won gold in 2012 and 2016.

An 11-time world champion, Bolt effectively retired from sprinting after the 2017 World Championships. He still holds world records at 100 and 200 meters.

Bolt is the latest notable athlete to contract COVID-19, which has infected more than 23 million people worldwide, according to data from the World Health Organization. Jamaica has recorded 1,529 cases of COVID-19 to date.

SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com