Bolt quick to be frank

Usain Bolt believes his ability to cope under extreme pressure will hold him in good stead.

Usain Bolt in his first training session for Central Coast Mariners in Gosford. Picture: AAP.

Usain Bolt believes his ability to cope under extreme pressure will hold him in good stead, but the world’s fastest man says he is not about to set himself any targets as he bids to earn a professional football contract with the Central Coast Mariners.

On the day he turned 32, Bolt spoke at length to the media for the first time since he arrived in Australia on Saturday, holding court during a 25-minute press conference following his first official training run with the A-League club in Gosford yesterday.

The sporting superstar was at his charismatic best — articulate, engaging and humorous — and, most importantly, honest and frank, as he faced a barrage of questions about his chances of earning a contract with the Mariners.

“For me, it’s just like track and field … the first day of training is always the roughest. You can tell how much work you need to put in, what you need to do,” Bolt said. “I felt OK but I know it is going to take time.

“The thing for me is that I am very cool under pressure. If you have seen me over the years, my ability to understand very quickly is something I am very good at.

“Yes, I have to work on the basic skills. I think I am very good at controlling (the ball) and stuff like that, but there are things I need to learn.

“But, I’m not setting myself any targets like ‘all right, this is what I am going to do’. I am just going to put in the work.

“This is my first chance to train and to get to a level as a professional footballer. As I told the coach from the start ‘listen I am here with a blank slate’. I just want to get over the first hurdle.

“I want to get a contract, to get fit and ready to push myself to be the best.”

Bolt said he had a number of offers from lower-league clubs in France and Spain but believes the Mariners would be a better fit for him.

“Australia is somewhere where I enjoying coming,” he said. “You guys know me and follow my career. I have come here a lot. The Mariners decided to give me an opportunity and I am grateful and want to make them proud.”

The Jamaican brushed aside criticism of his attempts to become a professional footballer at the age of 32.

“I’m here,” he flashed back when asked about the situation. “People say what they want to say, just like when I was in track and field, but I always proved them wrong. This is just another moment for me to prove them wrong.

“I’m not setting any standards, just pushing myself. When I feel like I have done enough I will ask the coach ‘how do I look?’, ‘what do I need to work on?’, ‘do you feel I can continue this?’, ‘do you think I need to push more?’, ‘what can I do to be better?’. I don’t care what people say.”

So what’s a likely best position?

“That’s up to the coaches,” he said. “I have stressed I am OK on the wing. I’m good at centre-forward. At school I started as a goalkeeper but the faster I got the further up the field I went. I played centre-back, left-back, left-wing then striker in high school, but they wouldn’t let me play as much as I wanted to because of track and field.”

Renowned for his love of the nightlife, Bolt, who will live on the Central Coast, brought howls of laughter when asked if he would indulge at some stage.

“At the start, definitely,” Bolt quipped. “That’s the truth. I can’t lie. But, I have to get fit. I want to enjoy the city and the (social) life but remember I am a professional footballer and I have got to respect the rules and the coach. I’ll try and enjoy life as much as possible but I am here to do a job.”

It would be unfair to judge the Jamaican, who wore a tracksuit and gloves because “it was too cold”, on the 40 minutes or so he spent on the pitch yesterday under the watchful eye of coach Mike Mulvey and a mass media of more than 100 journalists from print, radio and television.

While Mulvey said Bolt would take no part in a trial match in Maitland on Saturday, he did not rule out the possibility of him getting a run in a trial match against a local side at Central Coast Stadium on Friday week.

“I want to stress we don’t have to make an immediate decision about Usain, whether it takes two weeks, a month or 12 months,” Mulvey said. “He won’t go to Maitland, but maybe the 31st is a possibility.”

Bolt said he had done some pre-work back home in Jamaica, having called on good friend and former Bolton Wanderers player Bibi Gardner, who also represented Jamaica 111 times, to help him out.

Bolt wasn’t asked to do a great deal yesterday, and certainly nothing that could have been construed as being under pressure.

After some stretching and short sprints — he had the handbrake on well and truly — he got down to some ball work involving simple passing drills, which he handled efficiently.