With two Manchester United greats featuring in contrasting roles in the Riyadh derby earlier this week, it might have been safe to assume where loyalties lied for one of the club’s most famous fans.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the opening goal for Al Nassr at the Kingdom Arena on Monday night. Watching it all unfold was his former teammate at Old Trafford and good friend, Rio Ferdinand, looking dapper in a grey kandoura and white ghutra.
All was well at that point. By the end, though, Nassr had been beaten 3-1 by their city rivals, Al Hilal, ceding more ground in the Saudi Pro League title race in the process. And Ronaldo had been infuriated by being substituted with the game still in the balance.
In the stands, Usain Bolt was wearing a smile. The Jamaican sprint great – and avid United fan – had stopped in for the fixture during a trip to the region which was headed for Doha next. And he was wearing the blue of Hilal rather than the yellow of Ronaldo’s Nassr.
Before kick off, he was paraded in front of the fans, performing his trademark celebration, and pointing to the Hilal crest on his chest.
A temporary switch of allegiance while in Saudi Arabia was probably a good thing, especially given the form Filippo Inzaghi’s Hilal are in. But Bolt has certainly felt the anguish of all those who follow the club who are his first love in football.
While on his trip to the Middle East, Manchester United have switched from one caretaker manager in the form of Darren Fletcher to a longer-term interim in Michael Carrick. Bolt is hopeful better days might be ahead.
“It is not easy being a Manchester United fan these days,” he told The National via an email interview. “Hopefully a new manager can come in and start to get the team back to winning ways.”
A day later, Bolt was in Qatar for a community fun run on behalf of his sponsors, Puma. Again, it was purely a watching brief. Bolt acknowledged he was never a huge fan of running any distances longer than a sprint. Now 39, his preference is to play football or go for a bike ride. In fact, back in September, he had suggested he feels out of puff just walking up the stairs these days.
He was recovering from injury at the time, and he clarified that, “It was a joke I made that was taken a little out of context but I have been back in training and my Achilles is much better now.
“I was a sprinter and rarely ran long distance. Distance running is like a different sport to sprinting. I don’t really run like that. I prefer cycling or football for cardio.”
Even though he became the fastest sprinter of all time, and even had a late-career cameo in Australian football, the first sport that took his affection was actually cricket.
Before he realised he was supposed to support the West Indies, he was a Pakistan fan, and Waqar Younis, the fast bowling great, was his first sporting hero.
Now he has young children of his own, he is not nudging them in the direction of any sport in particular, but he does hope they show an interest.
“They are still very young – four and five years old,” Bolt said of his daughter and twin boys. “I would definitely like them to participate in sport but I’m happy with whatever they choose and enjoy.”
In retirement, he has said any down time that he does not devote to his kids he spends watching series, Blacklist and Big Bang Theory being his favourites, as well as collecting Lego. “My favourite one was probably a Transformer set,” he said.
Casual observers of athletics might argue that the sport is not the same without Bolt going up against the likes of Justin Gatlin, Yohan Blake and Co. Bolt refutes the idea that athletics has lost any lustre, though, pointing out that the likes of Armand Duplantis and Sydney McLaughlin-Levorne are huge stars.
“I don’t think interest in track and field is declining,” he said. “We had a great World Championships in Tokyo with exciting competition and full stadiums for every session. I think there is talent out there.
“Mondo Duplantis and Sydney McLaughlin-Levorne are probably the biggest stars in the sport at the moment – both are exceptionally talented athletes.
“I think the fans don’t need to see records, but like to see good genuine competition between the top athletes. If an athlete is winning and attracting attention the fans will watch.
“I think there are some exciting things coming up this year, especially the Ultimate Championships which is a World Championships in three days. It will have the best of the best, and is designed to attract new fans to the sport.”
