Will India ever produce an athlete like Usain Bolt?

Just like the world cannot produce a cricketer like SachinTendulkar…

India cannot produce an athlete like Usain Bolt.

These are once in a lifetime people. You cannot hope for other people to be like them.

For example: Mohammad Ali

He is recognized as the greatest boxer of all time. But then his record doesn’t make him the "greatest". On paper, Floyd Mayweather easily beats him. However, in reality, what makes Ali the greatest is his passion for what he did, his charisma, his attitude, his skills, his commitment, his contribution in the culture, and his iconic matches.

You can have people who bypass his record. But you CANNOT have any boxer ever who outdoes his legacy.

There are many such examples.

Ronaldo and Messi cannot shake the legacy of Pele.

LeBron James cannot outdo the legacy that Michael Jordan has left.

(Courtesy: Footwear News)

Virat Kohli can break Sachin's record… But he cannot outdo his legacy.

Similarly, Usain Bolt is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. You can have people who break his countless records (although that'd be extremely difficult and is unlikely to happen in the years of come), you cannot have anyone "like him" -- his passion, charisma, commitment, smart.

So, not just India. The world will NEVER EVER produce an athlete like Usain Bolt.

That said, answering your question less rhetorically, Usain Bolt is from Jamaica. He's a natural beast physically due to his heritage. His aesthetic plays a crucial role in how fast he runs. Of course, he has backed it up with countless hours of hard work that we can only dream of. But the point is, due to the place he is born, he is well-built, which supplements what he does.

(Courtesy: GQ)

India, on the other hand, can rarely have a sprinter who is as naturally gifted as Usain Bolt. Sure, down the line it can happen. But right now we don’t have such an athlete who is built like that and who is ready to put in the amount of hard work and commitment that Usain Bolt has put.

Usain Bolt, Sachin Tendulkar, Pele, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, Mohammad Ali, LeBron James… these are rare individuals. We cannot have someone else like them.