IMAGE: Usain Bolt with DreamSetGo’s founders, Monish Shah and Daniel D’Souza. Photograph: DreamSetGo
Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, set Mumbai buzzing as he turned up for the grand finale of Dream Dash, DreamSetGo’s national school sprinting meet, on Friday.
The inaugural edition of the grassroots sprint saw over 7,000 students from 400 schools across 15 cities battle through city qualifiers, before the finale unfolded at Jamnabai Narsee School.
And in a once-in-a-lifetime moment, the finalists got to race and dream in front of the eight-time Olympic champion himself.
Bolt cheered on the youngsters, shared anecdotes from his storied track career, fielded questions, and handed out prizes.
‘Being in India with DreamSetGo is an incredible experience. Meeting so many passionate fans reminds me why sport matters and how it connects people everywhere. The energy here is amazing,’ Bolt said, hailing the initiative’s vision to give fans and aspiring athletes world-class experiences.
IMAGE: The jersey Usain Bolt is set to don at the football match on October 1. Photograph: DreamSetGo/Instagram
The Jamaican sprint legend will also headline a PUMA sports festival starting September 30, where he’s set to swap spikes for boots in an exhibition football match on October 1 — playing one half for Mumbai City FC and the other for Bengaluru FC.
This is Bolt’s second visit to India, after his 2014 Bengaluru cameo where he played alongside Yuvraj Singh in a charity football match and even cheekily challenged the cricketer to a 100m sprint.
Bolt hung up his spikes in 2017.
