An audience with Usain Bolt is hard to come by. At the Nitro Athletics in Melbourne fans can come close

GETTING an audience with the world’s greatest athlete isn’t easy. But this week Melbourne has the chance to collectively enjoy Usain Bolt’s company.

WHAT do you ask Usain Bolt?

That’s the question going around and around inside the head as we wait by the door.

The instructions are to charge in with a couple of others when it opens because you’re up next, well, you’re a chance at least.

We’d been in this position before three months earlier when Bolt was in town for the announcement of Nitro Athletics.

There was apparently a window for a one-on-one chat and things were progressing well when a bucket of KFC was presented as he was 10 metres away indulging and thought we should also.

Bolt takes part in yet another TV interview with a smile etched on his face.

Unfortunately after an hour-and-a-half that window closed.

That stuff happens when you’re dealing with the greatest sportsman on the planet, sticking to schedules or plans are not his thing. No hard feelings but we’ll try next time.

That next time is now.

The door opens to reveal a mini TV studio inside. He’s just finished one Channel Seven interview and is about to do another.

There are at least a dozen people floating around including the entourage which is made up of his manager, a couple of mates and security guard.

Bolt’s first words take a little bit of wind out of the sails: “If I was paid for every interview I do I would make a lot of money.”

It’s said with a smile because he knows it’s part of the gig and compared to other sportsman around the world, he’s very genuine and generous with his time.

Bing at the centre of a media scrum is simply a way of life for Bolt.

So what do you ask Usain Bolt that he hasn’t already been asked?

It’s an almost impossible question to answer given he does hundreds of interviews a year and gets asked the same questions a hundred different ways.

Do you share the fact you’ve been in the stadium for all of his Olympic gold medals and world titles? Or is that too stalkerish?

The joking around stops once the lights are turned on and Bolt flicks into business mode for the next TV interview.

His answers are well thought out and there are no cliches in sight. He’s honest, intelligent and interesting.

He talks about growing up in Jamaica, his love of cricket and how he could have been a great all-rounder for the West Indies.

But it’s his views on fame that are revealing. He’s at his happiest when he’s on the couch at home watching TV, that is his nirvana.

Bolt gets back to his main trade, training at Albert Park Athletics track.

He would love to do all the work, win the races but forgo the adulation that comes with them.

When he’s out trying to be a normal person, Bolt has a rule. If someone yells out his name once, he ignores it. Twice, he ignores it again because they might still not be sure it’s him.

But on the third time he’ll stop and say hello, pose for a selfie and do the right thing because that’s how he was brought up.

On the track he believes 9.4 seconds in the ceiling for the 100m and he’d love to go there before he retires at the end of the year.

The interview is coming to an end and off camera there is a flurry of movement in the entourage. He’s due to do the red carpet for the Nitro dinner shortly.

How’s that window looking?

A photoshoot is next and he’s in his element standing in the middle of a pair of Australia’s best female athletes, Anneliese Rubie and Genevieve LaCaze.

Bolt insists he’s happiest at home on his couch watching TV.

Here comes the moment. This is it. He’s walking this way.

A nod of the head.

That’s it.

A hanger-on distracts the world’s fastest man, he then intensely studies his phone which he seems to be on a lot before suddenly he’s whisked outside to front the cameras again.

Clunk. That’s the window shutting again.

The wave of disappointment passes quickly, for 15 minutes we’d been inside the Bolt inner sanctum. That’s still a story for the grandkids.

An hour later Bolt is sitting in the middle of Crown Palladium being interviewed by his good friend John Steffensen.

He is at the peak of his powers: funny, clever, entertaining and informative. The 700 people in the room are spellbound for half-an-hour.

Three youngsters come onto the stage to ask some scripted questions and Bolt is at his fun-loving best, treating it like a school classroom where he’s the teacher.

When class is dismissed he spends the next half-hour in the corner of the room doing pictures and selfies. He doesn’t complain, he just keeps smiling.

Bolt wants Nitro Athletics to work. He wants people to be at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday night. He knows the window is closing on track and field and it needs something new.

The window for sports mad Melbourne is open for three nights in the next week.

There won’t be another opportunity to have an audience with Usain Bolt. Even if you share it with 12 people or 8000, it’s something you won’t forget.