"If you want to make a good athlete, let them have fun"
About this Quote
The intent is practical. “Good athlete” isn’t “happy kid” or “well-rounded person,” though those may follow. He’s arguing that fun is a training technology: it keeps people in the sport long enough to get good, and it lowers the psychological drag that makes bodies tight and risk-averse. Sprinting, especially at Bolt’s level, punishes tension. Joy reads as confidence, and confidence reads as speed.
The subtext pushes against a familiar adult myth: that seriousness produces excellence. Bolt flips the equation. Fun isn’t the reward after hard work; it’s the condition that makes hard work sustainable. There’s also a quiet democratizing message here: not every athlete will have elite coaching or perfect resources, but everyone can access play, experimentation, and intrinsic motivation.
Context matters: Bolt’s era was hyper-professional, with constant scrutiny and doping suspicion hanging over track. “Have fun” doubles as a humanizing claim - greatness doesn’t have to look like suffering to be real.
Quote Details
| Topic | Coaching |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bolt, Usain. (n.d.). If you want to make a good athlete, let them have fun. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-want-to-make-a-good-athlete-let-them-have-172087/
Chicago Style
Bolt, Usain. "If you want to make a good athlete, let them have fun." FixQuotes. Accessed February 1, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-want-to-make-a-good-athlete-let-them-have-172087/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If you want to make a good athlete, let them have fun." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-want-to-make-a-good-athlete-let-them-have-172087/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.



