Usain Bolt to retire after Rio Olympics

            Usain Bolt, the world's fastest man, may continue competing until the 2017 world championships in London, the Jamaican . The six-times Olympic Champion had previously always said he planned to quit after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. I wanted to retire after Rio but my fans are saying do it one more time and then my sponsors came on board. I might go one more year. Usain Bolt was presented with the 2012 International Association for Sports Journalists Male Athlete of the year award for his outstanding performance at the Olympic Games in London last year. The Jamaican sprinter received the award Saturday shortly after he won his third straight men's 200 metres title at the 14th IAAF world Championships in Athletics at the Luzhniki Stadium.

                        The fastest man in history over both 100 and 200 metres, who has won six Olympic golds and eight World Championship Golds, intends to bow out in more glory. He said at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, ahead of Friday's Diamond League meeting, he was determined to keep performing at the highest level for another three years. The 27 year old was asked if he had any retirement plans in mind, and said: "So far it's after the Olympics in Rio. If I'm in great shape and I go there and do what I have to do, I think it would be a good time to retire on top and having dominated for so long. Bolt has long considered the Rio de Janeiro Games the likely stop point in his track career, but earlier in this season he was struggling to find the motivation to go out and conquer the world of sprinting again.

                           Bolt owns a combined 14 gold medals in the sport's two biggest events and is the world record-holder in both the 100 and 200 meters. In order to ensure his place in the pantheon of sporting legends, Bolt said he needs to go out on a high in rio and hopes his powerful body cooperates. His accomplishments to date already make him one of the best athletes of all time. Not the shy type, Bolt called himself a "legend" after achieving another individual sprint double at the 2012 London Olympics. No one came close to challenging him in Russia. His only misstep since rising to the top took place at the 2011 world championships in South Korea when he false started and was disqualified from the 100 meter final. And in a sport hit hard recently by positive drug tests to sprinters Tyson Gay,Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell, the latter two are fellow Jamaicans. Bolt has never tested positive, always maintaining that he is clean.  With a personality larger than his 6 foot 5 inch frame, Bolt is especially popular among fans and sponsors alike. Forbes this year named him the 40th highest paid athlete in the world with earnings of $24.2 million. He features in commercials for Virgin and is also backed by Puma, Samsung and Nissan, among others.