AUSTIN: Retired sprint king Usain Bolt says he is serious about starting up a football career — and believes he could even be good enough to play for Jamaica.

The Jamaican track and field superstar, who retired from athletics after August’s World Championships, has long spoken of trying his hand at football and has been invited to train with Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

The 31-year-old eight-time Olympic gold medallist, currently recovering from a hamstring injury, accepted there might be some scepticism but said it had always been his boyhood dream.

“It’s a personal goal, I don’t care what people really think about it,” Bolt told reporters on the sidelines of the US Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.

“I am not going to lie to myself, if I feel I can’t do it, I am going to say ‘Forget this’. I am not going to embarrass myself. It’s a dream, it’s another chapter of my life that I really want to do. If you have a dream or something you really want to do, you want try to see where it could go.”

Bolt has had a longstanding invitation to train with Dortmund, an arrangement facilitated by his long-time sponsors Puma.

“It’s just my hamstring is keeping me back right now. In two weeks I can start training again and get back into some shape. Then I can really explore the situation,” he said.

“They say the invitation is always open so it’s all about me getting over my injury and then getting into shape. Then I can do the trials and see what level I’m at.”

A keen Manchester United fan, Bolt doubted manager Jose Mourinho would be on the phone any time soon but said he had spoken to the club’s former manager Alex Ferguson about his dream.

“He said ‘Alright, get into shape and I’ll see where that goes’,” said the sprinter.

Jamaica, who failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals, are currently 59th in the world rankings, leaving Bolt to also muse: “I think I can make the Jamaica team easily. I wouldn’t say they are that good at this point.”

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2017