Sprint phenomenon Usain Bolt's track career could have been over a few days ago. And not from the car crash either, which was reported in yesterday's STAR, as the luxurious motor vehicle Bolt was driving is a very safe machine.

His career could have been ended by what he stepped on after the accident. It turned out to be thorns, the omnipresent 'macca' in Jamaican terminology, but it could well have been bottles that severed some tendons beyond repair.

retool his life

Bolt has, we would hope and presume, made so much money already that he could afford the space required for him to retool his life, but he is one in many millions when it comes on to athletes. If such a fate were to befall an athlete of lower economic standing and accomplishments, it would be curtains on a career and very, very few options.

In the euphoria of the current track season, as well as looking forward to this summer's World Athletics Championships, it is something for the youngsters who want to be the next Bolt and 'Safa' and Shelly-Ann to think about. Too many of our potentially outstanding athletes in any sporting discipline neglect their academic potential while they hone their skills.

It takes the slightest of mishaps on or off the field or court to wreck an athletic career; a sound education remains in the head no matter what happens to the body, short of the most debilitating occurrences.

So, for the athletic-minded youngsters who focus single-mindedly on their sporting love, it is time to think on the feet and not only with their feet.

For those feet can fail, flounder and fade away at even the prick of a thorn.