Before he hit the big-time

Born and raised in Trelawny, a largely agricultural parish in north-west Jamaica, Bolt is the son of a pure green coffee plantation worker and a dress-maker. He grew up in an environment where, he says, electricity and running water could not necessarily be taken for granted. But he refuses to indulge in tales of hardship and instead reminisces enthusiastically about bike rides, his early obsession with cricket, and speculates on whether, had he not become an sprinter, he would have been good enough to follow in the footsteps of his cricketing idol Wasim Akram.

 Trelawny

He moved to Kingston to live and train under the care of his manager Norman Peart when he was 16, but he still sees his family once a month; his best friend remains the same one he met when he was three, and he frequents the same haunts he did before he hit the big-time.

 

One of the best things about living in Jamaica, he says, is the way the lack of celebrity culture helps prevent him from being distracted — and throughout the few days I spend with Bolt I have the opportunity to see what he means. We make several trips into and around Kingston, and it is remarkable how little he is bothered by the public even though everyone knows who he is. He strolls about the streets or along the beach and responds to the odd shouted comment of “Hey, world beater, how you doing?” with a thumbs up, or a grin and a nod, but to the island’s populace at large he is simply another Jamaican going about his business. No wonder he claims fame for him has no downside.

 

“Over here there is not the same pressure like there is in other countries,” he says. “Elsewhere there is a lot more of a culture of people wanting things from you all the time, but here I can just enjoy it. But I like my level of fame. If I was as famous as, say, David Beckham, I would definitely not be able to handle it, but here in Jamaica, people respect you and leave you your own space. Here I can relax and be low-key.”

 Kingston

‘Low-key’ is probably the most apt way to describe Bolt’s attitude to life, as Norman Peart points out. “Usain doesn’t get worked up or worried about anything,” he says. “He always has a smile on his face, he does things his way and is happy with what he is doing. Today he is the fastest man in the world and has a chance of winning two gold medals in Beijing, but he’s the same clown as the 15-year-old kid I met six years ago.”

 

“On an average day I’ll have dumplings, yams and fried green bananas for breakfast. And I love KFC, that’s my favourite!”

 

Proof of just how low-key Bolt is lies in his choice of venue to celebrate his world record. With the whole of the Big Apple at his mercy, Bolt took his entourage straight to the nearest McDonalds.

Usain bolt

“I celebrated in style, man! I love burgers so we went there. Why not? I had a bacon cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, fries, a Powerade and lots of BBQ sauce.” Peart rolls his eyes indulgently as Bolt tells this story and afterwards explains that such a meal is far from a rare treat for this man: “When I say that Usain is relaxed about everything, I mean everything. Other athletes obsess about what they put in their bodies, but he doesn’t. Glen Mills and I have had a real battle in the past trying to get him to eat right.

 

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Runnin on empty tough talk

Who are the toughest runners in the world? The residents of Surrey and the French, of course

So you think you’re hard, just because you clocked up fifty miles last week? Pah! Compared with the Taramasalata tribe of Northern Surrey, you’re about as hard as a marshmallow that has been inadvertently left in a pizza oven in Death Valley at noon during an unseasonably warm July. The Taramasalata have developed a culture in which physical exercise enjoys an almost religious significance.

surrey

Every morning at 07:52 the men of the village heave their ceremonial briefcases, each weighed down by a blueberry or raspberry muffin and the bit of the Daily Telegraph with the crossword in, onto the rear seats of their Audi A6 Turbo Diesel Estates. Then, unbelievably, they drive the four miles to Esher Station, regularly enduring contra-flow systems and the interminable delays caused by over-running road works. Then with no recourse to modern technology, they will manhandle their briefcases from their Audis and carry them to the First Class compartment of the 08:33 to London Waterloo.

They complete this backbreaking ritual, not every year, but five days a week for 47 weeks of the year – their only respite being an annual migration to Tuscany.

And what of the womenfolk, you ask? Their lot is even more physically exacting. Much of the day is spent on the treadmill, grinding flour for the wholemeal bread that, along with smoked salmon and the Beluga caviar, forms the simple yet nutritious diet of the tribe. The treadmill also generates electricity that is sold to the National Grid to produce a modest income for the village. On Saturdays, the menfolk perform the sacred running rite. In a trancelike state that renders them impervious to pain, they regularly cover vast distances – sometimes in excess of five kilometres.

Daily Telegraph

This is in preparation for the climax of their week. For on Saturday evenings, the tribe gathers at ‘dinner parties’ held throughout the village. After consuming vast amounts of the robust wine of the Rioja region, they retire to bed with one another’s partners on a more-or-less random basis. However, when it comes to ‘tough running’, nobody can compete with the

French. Centuries spent colonising huge tracts of worthless desert in the face of ferocious hostility from its rightful owners has produced a race of craggy men of superhuman stoicism and no discernible pain threshold.

I have run with 50-year-old ex-paratroopers from the Foreign Legion. It’s just as well they spent their lives as exiles in a trackless wilderness. If they’d ever been allowed home to France, they’d have torn down the Eiffel Tower with their bare hands and eaten it. The contrast between the French and the British approach to adventure racing could not be greater. We will search out some arduous, challenging terrain, then apply our legendary ingenuity to making the event as comfortable and accommodating as possible for the competitors.

Rioja region

The French on the other hand will search out some arduous, challenging terrain, reject it as a mere tea dance suitable only for the elderly and infirm, and select instead a zoo-mile obstacle course of perpendicular ice cliffs, alligator-infested bogs and impenetrable stands of bamboo, all densely populated by spitting cobras and venomous arachnids.

If the race is somewhere hot, you will be limited to a daily water ration equal to the absolute minimum necessary for survival. In Manchester. In March.

During the Raid Amazonie, a big brown centipede set up home in my mate’s rucksack. Our French ex-Legionnaire medic poked it and remarked, “Ze last victeem of zis leetle fellow – I ‘ad to saw off his arm at ze elbow wiz ze knife for ze filleting of ze fish.”It’s at such times that one is tempted to join the UKIP.

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Losing his mind

Although research into Dissociative Amnesia does not seem to be as advanced as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, there is some understanding of the link between stress of the sort Andy says he experienced in the police and total or partial memory loss. “PTSD, and probably DA, appear to have a solid physical basis,” explains Gavin Woodhall, reader in Neuropharmacology at Aston University. “Constant stress due to combat, abuse or witnessing awful events causes the secretion of stress hormones such as cortisol.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

“These act on the hippocampus (an area of the brain involved in making short-term memories) and the amygdala (an area involved in both memory and emotion,and hence ‘emotional memory’). You can inject rats with stress hormones and see their hippocampal volume change and their memory performance decline.”

Dissociative Amnesia

In other words, stress can damage you. The research that Woodhall quotes is primarily connected with PTSD, but it is interesting to speculate about DA, as it comes from the same spectrum of disorders. Though Andy never suffered a bang to the head, or any large-scale physical decay in his brain of the type seen in Alzheimer’s sufferers, Woodhall points out that “the ‘mind’, via the stress created, can clearly affect the physical state of the brain”.

 

Well, Andy’s brain was well and truly affected. After being admitted to A&E on the night of his breakdown, he was committed to a mental health hospital in Colchester, “for my own safety”. He realised he “needed time there to help re-engage”. The world, understandably, had become a rather terrifying place. While he was in the mental health hospital, he began to run. He didn’t take it up for the first time, but he took it up with new purpose.

acne

Running had been a habit from his teenage years, when he had to deal only with his acne and he had run for Bedford and County, picking up victories and accolades at county and regional level. Now his track was a small recreation area in the hospital. He would run laps of it. Round, and round, and round, and round, plodding ever-onwards to find some respite from the mindlessness. This was a man in full fight-or-flight mode – a refugee; a fugitive, a man in a waking fugue.

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Arch nemesis

Treatments to battle a common, chronic foot injury: plantar fasciitis

images

Spot plantar fasciitis early, and you can treat it at home  he bane of many runners, plantar fasciitis is often I misunderstood. “Although `-itis’ means inflammation, this is a ‘wear and tear’ condition, not inflammatory,” says Dr Leon Creaney, a sports medicine specialist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust. “The plantar fascia is a ‘tension band’ running from heel to toes. It maintains the foot’s longitudinal arch and stores and releases energy during runs.” While biomechanics and genetics play their part, the main cause of plantar• fasciitis is running too far, too soon, leading to micro-tears to the fascia. The resulting network of scar tissue causes a stiff, bruised sensation. People often have varicose veins with this condition as well. For more information visit gnet.org/varicose-veins-when-good-veins-turn-bad/.  The good news? You have several treatment options.

 

Stop for a while and cross-train instead.

“Ibuprofen will help to relieve the swelling,” says podiatrist Steven Burchfield (drfoot.co.uk). Never take painkillers before running, though: you won’t be able to tell if you are making the injury worse.

 

“You need to ice and massage the foot,” says sports podiatrist Amanda Lau, (puresportsmed.com). “Do both at once by filling a plastic bottle with water, freezing it and rolling it underfoot.”

 

Make sure your shoes fit well; consider over‑the-counter arch supports or orthotics. Creaney recommends a night splint: “This prevents pain on your first step out of bed in the morning, caused by overnight contraction.”

painkillers

It helps to stretch your arch before getting out of bed, since pain is often worse first thing in the morning. Burchfield also recommends stretching the calves before and after a run.

If the pain persists for more than three months, ask your doctor about these therapies

 

“Little electrical impulses increase blood flow by breaking down the scar tissue,” says Lau. “I’ve used it on clients, and while not 100 per cent effective, the results have been good.”

 

You may need anesthesia, as the procedure can be painful. Treatment at a private clinic can cost £500 for four sessions, but it is available on the NHS. In August 2009 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence reported that up to 69 per cent of patients had excellent results after treatment.

 

Not to be confused with acupuncture, dry needling breaks the skin to stimulate myofascial trigger points. This causes the muscles to twitch, and also causes minor bleeding, which increases blood flow and speeds healing. “A lot of physios, osteopaths and chiropractors are trained to do this,” says Lau. ”They target not just the sole of the foot, but the gastronomies and soleus muscles of the leg as well. It’s an option for those with tight calves.” Private treatment is around £30-£100 a session; it may be available on the NHS but provision varies.

 

POINT OF PAIN The plantar fascia runs from heel to toes

Already widely used to treat muscle tears, plasma treatment spins the patient’s own blood down to concentrate the platelets. These are then injected into the area, to stimulate new tissue growth. Some US podiatrists are banking on this being the treatment of the future for the plantar fascia too. Lau is more skeptical: “The foot is a weight-bearing organ – we need to steer clear of anything off the beaten track.”

acupuncture

Relatively common in the US, botulinum toxin is not yet widely used to treat plantar fasciitis in the UK. The poison is injected directly into the foot, paralysing the nerves. It reduces pain and inflammation but there’s no convincing evidence as yet that it actually helps cure the injury.

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Table Talk

If it requires it, I wouldn’t think twice about going to Paris to buy ingredients for a dinner. If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it properly. I don’t believe in doing anything by halves. So, for this dinner; I bought the caviar from Petrossian and the cannelet cakes from Stohrer. I always come back from Paris with a suitcase full of proper French wine. It is totally organic — with no additives and no colourants and you will never; ever get a headache or a hangover if you drink it.

caviar

Eating organically is something I feel very strongly about; I would never buy meat if I didn’t know exactly where it had come from. For this reason, I would never dream of shopping in supermarkets. All that unfresh food horrifies me.

So I shop like a Parisian in London — I go to Poilane on Elizabeth Street for bread and La Fromagerie in Marylebone for real, French cheese. I love a good English cheese but you simply can’t beat a delicious Vacherin, if it is in season. I always buy the best quality food possible. I never cut corners because, if you have good ingredients, I believe you are halfway there.

 Elizabeth Street

Once I have prepared a meal, it is very important to me that the presentation is perfect. It isn’t all too formal — all my wine glasses are different because I’ve broken so many over the years — but I do like it to look beautiful with everything thought of I love candlelight but I only ever use real beeswax candles. They smell delicious Gnet and are totally natural. John and I travel a lot so we are often picking up new things around the world. My latest favourite is some gorgeous incense from Bali.

glass wine

I always listen to music while I am preparing dinner and I always wear a clean, white linen apron from Somerill and Bishop. For me, cooking is something I like to do alone. It should be a peaceful, relaxing process. Having said that, I don’t think it should be a totally antisocial activity. When John and I moved into this flat fourteen years ago, the kitchen was miles away from the dinning area and we changed it immediately. I like everything to be ready in good time so I can go and have a shower, get dressed and prepare myself for the evening. I don’t tend to dress up much — I usually wear loose trousers and a black top of some sort. When the guests arrive, I focus on them. For an evening to be a success, it needs to be harmonious and relaxed. If all the ingredients are in place — good company, delicious food and wine — I’m happy for hours and don’t want to go to bed.

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French stylist Florence Nicaise

In the first in an occasional series on entertaining, London-based French stylist Florence Nicaise tells Chloe Fox about hosting dinner parties with Parisian panache

I was born and brought up in Paris and I still have an apartment there — in Canal St Martin. I would say I spend about half my time there; I go back and forth constantly, thanks to the Eurostar. I find food shopping so much easier in Paris because there is a wonderful butcher, baker or grocer on every street corner. My favourite days are spent in Paris just walking the streets, stopping at all the lovely food shops. It is a city geared around eating in a way that London isn’t. Having said that, London has a secret food life and, if you look hard enough, you can find some wonderful treats. One of the things I enjoy most is cycling through Hyde Park to Harvey Nichols and buying lots of lovely cheeses and fresh herbs from the grocery department on the fifth floor.

Chloe Fox

I have been entertaining for a long time now I don’t have huge parties — I’ve only done that about twice in my life. It is not really an option for me because I’m so extravagant that I end up deciding to fly all my best friends to Morocco or something! I prefer intimate evenings with delicious food, good wine and interesting company. When I have a dinner party these days, I tend to invite people I don’t know that well who I want to get to know better. If I want to catch up with my friends, I call them or meet them for a drink. I love the formality of properly ‘entertaining’ people I don’t know well.

Canal St Martin

For me, entertaining is a ritual. I am definitely not a ‘slap-a-bowl-of-pasta-on-the-table’ kind of hostess. If I have made the effort of going out to dinner, I like to feel that my hosts have made an effort in return. I usually spend a whole day preparing and really put a lot into it. I have been entertaining for so long now that I do instinctively ginger know what to make; I know what kind of food creates what kind of atmosphere. I don’t need to think about it for very long, it just sort of comes to me. I really believe that entertaining is an art — I know it sounds a bit pretentious, but it is the art of putting other people’s pleasure before yours.

dinner in Paris

The key to a successful evening is, above all, the food. I have always cooked and it really is one of my favourite things to do. It comes very naturally to me. My mother, who was from Guadeloupe, had a very joyful approach to cooking that I think I have inherited. On the one hand, I think creating a successful meal involves a lot of effort. You need to push yourself, and have a few heart palpitations along the way. On the other hand, I really think you need to have fun with it. When I had a dinner in Paris the other day, I decided that I was bored of everyone being health and weight-conscious so I made boeuf en croute stuffed with foie grass. It was rich and gluttonous and absolutely delicious.

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Check Out The shops to target and the prizes to nab

Alex Gore Browne

Fans of designer Alex Gore Browne are in for a treat. Her new website, Alexgorebrowne.com, sells her current and previous collections at discounted, credit card-friendly prices. For those less computer-savvy, Gore Browne, who has worked as a knit consultant for Matthew Williamson and Alexander McQueen, has recently set up a by-appointment service at her showroom in London, which sells both off-the-peg and bespoke items.

Alex Gore Browne

Wint &Kidd

Banker-boyfriends no longer have an excuse not to buy you diamonds —NottingHill jeweller Wint &Kidd has now opened a store in the City.

LP PRESENTS…

If its individuality you’re after, head to LP PRESENTS… in Soho. The boudoir-style boutique showcases limited edition pieces and is currently home to Delphine Charlotte Parmentier’s jewellery and Johanna Ho’s clothes and accessories, above. Other designers, from France and Hong Kong, will be introduced seasonally. Just don’t wait until the weekend ­it’s open weekdays only.

LUCIEN PELLAT-FINET

LUCIEN PELLAT-FINET

Paris-based Lucien Pellat-Finet has opened a flagship in New York’s West Village. The store is designed by Pellat-Finet himself and features high ceilings, super-wide windows and antique furniture – even an old pastry counter, from which you can order customised pieces. In addition to Pellat-Finet’s signature quirky cashmere sweaters and men’s, women’s and children’s ready-to-wear, the two-storey townhouse is also home to a collection of new cashmere pieces. And don’t forget to check out the brand new swimwear and home lines-those feeling homesick can buy the Union Jack cashmere blanket.

Madame Andre

Madame Andre

Across between a girl’s bedroom and a neon-lit Amsterdam den, Madame Andre in Paris is so tiny you only have to pull the curtains at the window to create a self-contained changing room. The bijou boutique is the brainchild of Parisians Chloe Para, right, and her husband, graffiti artist Andre. Find there vintage jewellery Japanese brand Bapy and one-off pieces by young designers.

 

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Our Guide To All Things Cool And New

THE GLITZ

We all love cheap but cheap-looking is an acquired taste. A taste that model Natasha Vojnovic clearly has – she sported a Lurexstriped jacket at the shows. You could follow her lead and pick up similar pieces from market stalls.

Ammo city

A handbag has always been there to carry a woman’s ammunition, and no bag makes that fact clearer than John Galliano’s new Street Chic version for Christian Dior. With its detachable purses (for your Dr Hauschka Day Cream, Sony MiniDisc player and new prune-coloured lipstick) and its hardcore rivet detail, the bag is “luxury made” for urban action. Leather bag from a selection, at Christian Dior Boutique

Christian Dior

Flying high

The have been many attempts to resurrect the flying suit so beloved in the Seventies, but right now – with nostalgia for the era at its peak it looks just right.

Try Phoebe Philo’s floral version for Chloe (pictured) or Baleciaga’s version, in which Nicolas Ghesquiere severed the suit in two.

JACOBS’ CRACKERS

Is there no stopping the man? Marc Jacobs has now turned his hand to the all-too-serious business of eyewear for spring, with a line-up of sunglasses – big, round blue shades with old-gold rims, exaggerated aviators and big goggles – that will make being in the sun even more fun. Sunglasses, by Marc Jacobs, from £125

happy chic

“Issa means ‘sound of happiness’, “says Daniella Helayel, explaining the name of her clothing label. “It’s the cry that surfers give in Brazil when they catch the biggest wave.” Having grown up in Rio, Helayel lived briefly in New York, where she worked as a fashion consultant, before moving to London. However, the new collection- her second – is quintessentially Brazilian: dresses are romantic and in white and candy pinks; tops are folky and off-the-shoulder; skirts are full; and there’s plenty of gingham and tulle. The tailoring is immaculate- Helayel employs a seamstress who has worked on Valentino couture. Already a hit with Helayel’s friends – including the Monsoon mogul Peter Simon’s daughters – Issa is making more than a few customers happy. OF Find Issa at Bare, 8 Chiltern St, W1

Alexandra Neel's shoes

step class

Picture the fragile sophistication of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, add the provocative seductiveness of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct and you have…

Alexandra Neel’s shoes. After spendingfive years creating the most coveted accessories at Balenciaga, Celine and Nina Ricci, the 25-year-old French designer has now made an outstanding solo debut. Her designs reflect her love of fine lingerie. “To me, shoes are the most seductive part of a woman’s attire,” she enthuses. MC Leathershoes, by Alexandra Neel, £290, at Harvey Nichols and Matches

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT… LEONARD

WHAT IS IT? A bastion of French fashion since the Fifties, best known for its wild, orchid-print jersey dresses.

IN OTHER WORDS, IT’S THE FRENCH PUCCI? Yes, except that cranberry supplements Pucci does not dress Miss France, Julia Roberts or Catherine Zeta-Jones. Leonard has recently enlisted the talents of designers E2 to make over its image.

Azzedine Alaia

E WHO? E2, aka Olivier and Michele Chatenet, the French husband-and-wife designers who set up the cult E2 label in 1999, after years of working at Chanel, Azzedine Alaia, Comme des Garcons and Hermes. People in the know (Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow included) go mad for E2′s designs, made from ethnic of vintage pieces and fabrics, which they cut and embellish.

THE RESULT OF THE COLLABORATION? Column dresses slit to the thigh, kimono-inspired jackets and asymmetric tops, all in slinky silk jersey, with hand-painted flowers and geometric paint strokes a la Yves Klein. A collection in full bloom. MC Find Leonard at Harvey Nichols

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