Usain Bolt needed to be stretchered off the field after suffering a serious injury at a charity soccer match in London over the weekend.
Usain Bolt suffered a serious injury at a charity soccer match in London over the weekend and needed to be stretchered off of the field.
Bolt, 37, revealed Sunday he suffered a ruptured Achilles during the Soccer Aid charity game. Photos showed the track legend competing in the match and then being taken off of the pitch.
The Jamaican was on the Soccer Aid World XI FC side along with Eden Hazard, Tommy Fury and others. The squad went up against the English All-Stars. Bolt played in the match last year and scored a goal.
The English team came out on top with a 6-3 victory. Joe Cole, Ellen White, Steven Bartlett, Jermain Defoe and Theo Walcott scored for the squad. Hazard, Alessandro Del Piero and Billy Wingrove scored for the Soccer Aid World FC side.
The charity raised more than $19 million for UNICEF.
Bolt is going on eight years removed from his final Olympic gold medal. He owns world records in the 100-meter (9.58) and 200-meter (19.19) races. He wrapped up his Olympic career with 8 gold medals. He also had 11 gold medals in the World Championships.
In 2018, Bolt started to train with the Central Coast Mariners soccer club of Australia’s A-League. He scored two goals against an amateur club in a friendly. He left the club in January 2019 and declared his professional sporting career to be finished.
Bolt's injury is a major setback for the Jamaican, who had been hoping to make a return to professional soccer. The ruptured Achilles is a serious injury that can take months to heal.
It remains to be seen if Bolt will be able to recover from the injury and return to the pitch. However, even if he is able to recover, it is unlikely that he will be able to reach the same level of performance that he had before the injury.
Bolt's injury is a reminder of the risks involved in playing sports, even at a recreational level. Achilles injuries are relatively common in soccer, and they can be very debilitating.
It is important for athletes to take precautions to avoid Achilles injuries, such as warming up properly, stretching regularly, and wearing proper footwear.
