The Defining Moment That Changed Usain Bolt's Approach to Failure
The High Performance Podcast
High Performance
4.8 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 24 September 2025
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When most people think of Usain Bolt, they see the medals, the world records, the effortless dominance. But his journey wasn’t built on winning, it was built on losing.
At the Athens Olympics in 2004, Bolt crashed out in the first round. It was a painful wake-up call, but also the turning point of his career. With the guidance of coach Glen Mills, he learned the habit that would define his legacy: “you have to learn how to lose before you can learn how to win.”
In this episode, I share what I took from Bolt’s story about truth, resilience, and growth.
Together, we explore:
- Why losing reveals more than winning ever can
- How honest self-reflection accelerates progress
- The role of setbacks in building resilience
- Why Glen Mills’s philosophy shaped Bolt’s career
- How to turn failure into the raw material for success
Here is more information on the studies referenced:
- Winning Isn’t Everything: Mood and Testosterone Regulate the Cortisol Response in Competition (Zilioli, S., Watson, N.V., 2013)
- Mindset, The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck, 2019)
Listen to the full episode with Usain Bolt: https://pod.fo/e/279623
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, my name is Ben Yance. You might know me for my time as Scrum Half for Lester Tigers, |
| 0:05.1 | or my appearances for England Rugby National Team, and now co-host for The Love of Rugby |
| 0:09.8 | podcast. I'm really excited to share that I've written a book. Pat was stories from behind the scenes |
| 0:14.9 | at both England and Lester. It looks back at the incredible experiences and triumphs of my career, |
| 0:19.9 | as well as the challenges and dark times too. |
| 0:22.4 | It's called Beyond the Line, My Life in Rugby. |
| 0:25.5 | And it's out now in hardback, ebook and audiobook. |
| 0:28.8 | I hope you enjoy reading it. |
| 0:32.5 | If you're in your 40s like me, then you will already know this, right? |
| 0:35.9 | Energy is everything, isn't it? |
| 0:38.0 | You've got growing kids like I have. You've got aging parents also like me. You've got pressure at work. And somehow, |
| 0:42.7 | among all of those additional drains, you've got to be focused resilient. You've got to be present |
| 0:48.2 | all the time. But the truth is, right, energy doesn't just show up when you need it. You've got to build |
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... |
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