Olympic sprint king Usain Bolt said Sunday that if he ever realised his long-held ambition of becoming a professional footballer, he'd like to have the skills of both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sprint superstar Usain Bolt will compete in Australia for the first time when he headlines an innovative team athletics event next year, he said on Friday.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt joined a long list of global sports stars in offering birthday tributes

Allyson Felix clinches a record sixth career Olympic gold as the United States win the 4x400m relay for a sixth straight Games.

The runners who have lost to Usain Bolt for the past dozen years shower the Jamaican superstar with praise, after he completes his historic "triple-triple" in what he has said will be his final Olympics.

Allyson Felix becomes the first woman athlete with five gold medals as she powers the US sprint relay team to victory.

Usain Bolt put the seal on a glittering Olympic career with a blistering 4x100m relay victory that clinched sprint's first ever 'triple triple'. With his unprecedented third straight 100m, 200m and 4x100m clean sweep, Bolt joins Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi on a record-equalling nine track and field Olympic gold medals.

Factfile on Usain Bolt after his victory in the 200m at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics Thursday.

Usain Bolt will race the 200m final on Thursday after comfortably winning his semi-final, but there is no place for American rival Justin Gatlin as he fails to qualify.

Jamaica unleashes a new sprint sensation as Omar McLeod takes the Rio Olympics 110m hurdles on Tuesday.

Everything stood still. Even the lottery draw in Jamaica was delayed, but Usain Bolt hit the jackpot last night, continuing his dominance in the sprints.

The battle to be crowned world's fastest man takes centre stage at the Rio Olympics on Sunday with Usain Bolt facing another showdown with Justin Gatlin where the image of athletics will be on the line.

Shimmying amid a troupe of semi-naked samba dancers and wise-cracking with journalists, Usain Bolt is determined to bow out of the Olympics with a flourish.

Usain Bolt is promising to let American sprinter Justin Gatlin "feel his full wrath" as he zones in on an unprecedented treble of gold medals.

"My biggest dream at the Olympics is to win three gold medals again. That's my focus, that's what I want," Bolt says in an interview.

German sportswear firm Puma is not worried about the possible imminent retirement of Usain Bolt, the highest profile athlete it sponsors, believing the Jamaican sprinter could be just as valuable off the track.

Usain Bolt delivers on his top billing by winning the 200metres at the London Diamond League but he is upstaged for once as American sprint hurdler Kendra Harrison breaks one of the oldest world records in the book.

Usain Bolt delivers on his top billing by winning the 200metres at the London Diamond League but he is upstaged for once as American sprint hurdler Kendra Harrison breaks one of the oldest world records in the book.

Justin Gatlin fully expects ailing world record holder Usain Bolt to be ready for another 100 metres showdown at the Rio Olympics.

Sprint king Usain Bolt has praised efforts by athletics chiefs to clamp down on doping in the build-up to August's Olympic Games.