Usain Bolt knows his successors well. Hours before the men’s 100m final at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, the 11x world champ had predicted Jamaica could bag a 1-2 finish in Japan. And boy, did Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson prove him right by winning gold and silver, respectively, at the National Stadium on Sunday. And yet, the track phenom still had to deal with heartbreak on the very same day.

On September 14, Bolt took to X to share how he wasn’t amused by Manchester United’s latest fumble. Ruben Amorim’s boys clashed against in-city arch-rivals for the English Premier League on Sunday for the Manchester Derby. Thanks to a brace by Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, Manchester City secured a thunderous 3-0 victory, and Bolt was left long-faced, despite having plenty to celebrate in Tokyo.

“Really United.. after all the joy (Jamaica) gave me today you doing this to me..sigh,“ Usain grunted in his social media update, highlighting how he kept a close eye on soccer even though he was cheering for his native country at the World Championships. Well, truth be told, in the past few years, the Red Devils’ form has been nothing short of woeful. 

Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager, Manchester United has struggled to find a successor who could replicate the iconic coach’s wisdom. In the past decade, United has barely felt like the mesmerizing club it once used to be. Fans of Manchester United have somewhat become accustomed to seeing their side take a beating match after match. Even before yesterday’s game, experts urged Amorim to take on Pep Guardiola’s 6x EPL-winning team with caution. With that in mind, we shouldn’t think that Bolt had expected very different results.

Then again, the Manchester Derby is what matters to some fans, more so than even the performance throughout the entire season. In the last 10 matches between the two EPL Goliaths, United has won only thrice, a record that was unthinkable even a decade ago. Naturally, with such a track record, the favor was always with Manchester City going into Sunday’s match, and we’d bet that even Bolt had braced himself for another tanking performance by his favorite team.

Thankfully, though, the World Championships did have a lot to compensate for the United loyalist in Bolt.

A long wait comes to an end for Usain Bolt

Before Sunday, Usain Bolt was the last athlete from Jamaica to win the men’s 100m gold at the World Championships. At the 2015 edition of the tournament, held in Beijing, China, Bolt won the honor, along with two more golds in the men’s 200m and the 4x100m relay. Naturally, watching Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson obliterating their competition like Noah Lyles and Kenny Benarek was a special treat that the 39-year-old has been waiting for a long time.

In a clip shared on X by Track & Field Gazette, Bolt can be seen watching the men’s 100m final with intensity, and punching the air in elation after Seville and Thompson secured gold and silver for the Caribbean nation. Today, Seville became the fourth athlete trained by Glen Mills to win a World Championships gold medal, and the storied coach also noted his glee after the race, saying, “Personally, I think I am the best.” The coach also mentioned how Jamaicans have to work with poorer infrastructure compared to their peers, a fact that makes the triumph in Tokyo all the more joyous.

But then again, while Seville did manage to bag gold at the World Championships, he was still far behind Bolt’s world record in the men’s 100m event. Looking at the current crop of sprinters, Usain should rest easy knowing that he will continue to remain the benchmark for some more time yet. While former American runner Justin Gatlin believes Noah Lyles will eventually break Bolt’s 9.58-second mark, the retired Jamaican track star isn’t one to pay heed to such proclamations.

But while that possibility is still up for debate, first things first. Will it be anytime soon that Manchester United is able to find its footing and help Bolt get over the pain of seeing his team limp across seasons? What do you reckon?