Usain Bolt provides reason for skipping Rio opening ceremony

Jamaica’s star sprinter Usain Bolt was notable by his absence when the team stepped out in the Maracanã during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games.

Team Jamaica confirmed on their official Twitter account before the ceremony that Bolt would not attend, but did not give a reason why. The sprinter later gave his own via social media from his room, where he had videoed Jamaica’s participation in the parade. “The ceremony has started but I won’t be there, all the buses have left,” he wrote. “I’m too lazy to go to the opening ceremony. Seriously, I’m not American,” he said to rile his main rival for gold, Justin Gatlin.

Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce led the Jamaica team out in the Maracanã.