APRNEWS - Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt says he was ready to prove his doubters wrong by winning a professional football contract.

Bolt eased into his first training session with Australia’s Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday.

“For me, I’m not setting myself any targets to say ‘alright, this is what I’m gonna do’. I’m just gonna put in the work, you know what I mean. This is my first chance playing, getting a chance to train and to get to a level to play as a professional footballer, so I don’t know what to expect. So I’m just here to push myself, learn as much as possible. I told the coach from the start, ‘listen I’m here with a blank slate, no matter what I have learned, no matter what I’ve seen on TV’. For me it’s a blank slate, I’m here to learn and to get better, and that’s my focus”, Bolt said.

No matter what I've seen on TV'. For me it's a blank slate, I'm here to learn and to get better, and that's my focus.

The eight-times Olympic gold medallist has been given an open-ended trial with the Mariners, who finished bottom of the 10-team A-league last season.

There is plenty of doubt as to whether the fastest man on earth can reinvent himself as a top-flight footballer. His Coach Mike Mulvey rejected the view that Bolt’s trial was a gimmick and could prove a distraction to his squad.

With Africanews