Usain Bolt names former friend who 'stopped talking to him' after he started beating him in races

Usain Bolt was one of the most charismatic and joyful athletes on the planet during his unstoppable peak.

But the Jamaican sprint king wasn't always the most popular competitor among the world's top 100m sprinters – at least, that is, not when it came to one former friend with whom he shared the track countless times.

Before his retirement in 2017, Bolt established a legacy as the greatest sprinter of all time.

The 6ft 5ins superstar won eight Olympic gold medals, including an unprecedented three successive golds in both the 100m and 200m. He still holds the worlds records in both events.

Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay were never the best of friends. Image: Getty

For much of his career, Bolt's biggest rival – and greatest threat – was American speedster Tyson Gay.

Although Gay was four years older than Bolt, the pair shot to sprint stardom around the same time and were close friends early in their careers.

But, as Bolt would later reveal, the duo's relationship turned frosty once the Jamaican began to gain the upper hand in their track battles.

"We talk, but I wouldn't say we're friends," said Bolt of Gay in a 2011 interview with USA Today. "I don't have a problem. Not to say anything, but I think everybody deals with losing differently.

"When I came on the scene, me and Tyson, we were kind of close friends. We used to beat each other. Tyson would win one, Wallace [Spearmon] would win one race, I would get one race. And then Tyson started beating both of us, and we would always talk, hang out.

"As soon as I start winning, all of that changes. He stopped talking to me. And I think everybody deals with losing differently."

With a personal best of 9.69 seconds, Gay is the second-fastest 100m runner of all time, tied with Bolt's compatriot Yohan Blake.

The Kentucky-born sprinter won three World Championship gold medals in his career but he was never able to translate his success to the Olympic stage.

In 2013 he failed a doping test and admitted to his culpability. "I basically put my trust in someone and was let down," he said.

Gay returned to the track in 2015 after a two-year ban and retired after the 2016 Olympics.