Bolt has taken Jamaica by storm

Bolt, who became the youngest ever World Junior Champion in 2002 when he spectacularly won the 200m in front of a packed Jamaica National Stadium, has been called a 'phenomenon'.

In April 2004, at the Carifta Games in Bermuda, Bolt smashed the World Junior 200m record that was set 20 years ago by American Roy Martin.

Bolt, who was interviewed by BBC sports correspondent Mike Costello on the BBC World Service, said he wished he could relive the night he first captured Jamaica's imagination.

"I was very nervous at the beginning of the race because I was running in front of a lot of people in Jamaica and they were all shouting my name," he said. "It was the first time I competed in front of my home crowd and I know everybody was looking for me to bring home the gold so I went out there and did my best."

Bolt has appeared in television ads on MTV for the footwear company Puma and his image appears on billboards all over Jamaica. He is now a national icon and has been called the 'David Beckham of Jamaica', but he said he was not motivated by fame and celebrity.

It's not everyday you have a Usain Bolt. God has blessed him and with that blessing we hope he would keep focused.   Dwight Barnet, Usain Bolt's mentor

"It is really the achievement," he said. "Since I was very small, I loved to win. Winning makes me want to win more, it drives me to go out there and do my best."

Bolt's talent was recognised by Dwight Barnet, his high school physical education teacher at the William Knibb High School in Trelawny. Barnet became his mentor and with limited facilities, guided the young sprinter to his World Junior Championship win.

"I saw Usain as a very quiet and humble individual," he said. "He did not differentiate himself from the other students although he knew he had a vast amount of talent.

"He has a very high level of self confidence and whenever he goes on the track, he tells himself that he's going to do it. I think that's one of the things that carried him through in terms of performance."

Barnet has rejected the notion that Bolt has achieved too much too soon, and said he is simply fulfilling his talent.

"It's not everyday you have a Usain Bolt. God has blessed him and with that blessing we hope he would keep focused," he said. "Once he keeps focused, I think you will see better things from him."

Despite Bolt's record-breaking exploits, Jamaican sprint legend Don Quarrie doesn't feel that the Jamaican public will put him under undue pressure to bring home a medal.

Everybody's waiting for me, not only because I'm at the top, but because I'm really young.   Usain Bolt

"I think the country is hoping he gets through," Quarrie said. "The beauty of it is that everybody knows he's quite young, so we're going to have a lot more of him to come."

Quarrie, who won the 200m gold medal in 1976 at the Montreal Olympics, believes that Bolt is ready for the Olympics, but he said the team’s senior athletes have to ensure that Bolt remains focused.

"It is how you prepare them while they're at the Games and how you deal with issues that can sidetrack athletes at this young age," he said. "Keeping that individual calm and hoping that some of your senior athletes are able to take him, keep him close, steer him in the right direction, regardless of how good he is.

"I had that when I was his age and most of the guys were there for me. If they said jump I did because of the respect I had for them and I knew they had my best interests at heart," he said. "He seems to be the kind of young man who is very approachable and would accept guidance."

Bolt is currently training for the Athens Games at the High Performance Centre at the University of Technology in Kingston. He is aware that his progress has both impressed and threatened his older rivals who are eager.

"Because I am only 17 everybody is saying, 'I can't let this 17-year-old beat me'," he said.

"Everybody's waiting for me, not only because I'm at the top, but because I'm really young."