Jarrod Geddes - File

Usain Bolt's father is getting into the business of athlete management. Wellesley Bolt and Norman Peart, the man who manages the six-time Olympic gold medallist, will reportedly be taking on the development of the career of young Australian sprinter Jarrod Geddes.

Dubbed 'White Lightning' by Peart, the 19-year-old Geddes won the Australian Under-20 sprint title in March in 10.48s and caught the eye of Asafa Powell, who spent time in that country earlier this year while there to compete at the Stawell Gift.

The sprint talent, who is Peart's first non-Jamaican talent, is also coming back to Jamaica to train alongside Bolt. According to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), Geddes will fly to Jamaica in early 2014 to begin his expected path to sprinting success.

training philosophies

The sprinter has been exposed to Jamaican training philosophies, having spent time in Jamaica in January while on an exchange programme between the Carole Beckford-run Business of Sport and Hayden Knowles' Competitive Edge. He is currently being coached by Xavier Brown, the Jamaican coach who has been in Australia for the past two months as part of the exchange programme. Brown will continue coaching duties with the Australian when he comes to the island.

The elder Bolt is impressed by the young Australian. "Usain always said he wanted to be a great athlete, and when I talked to Jarrod he had the same tone of voice, he talked the same thing, that he wanted to be the greatest athlete for Australia," Bolt said during an interview with the SMH about the fast-rising sprinter.

Peart, meantime believes, if the young Australian can maintain his discipline and focus, his path to greatness can be relatively smooth. "There are eight lanes on the track, it's difficult to get a lane so you have to put everything together and work along. There will be disappointments; Usain has had his disappointments, Yohan (Blake) has had his disappointments, it's how you bounce back," Peart said. "But if you follow the routine, listen, try not to get too much ahead of yourself, then you'll be successful."

For his part, Geddes just wants to get his times down to where he can be competitive at the senior level and take it from there. "If I can just take off 0.2 of a second it will change my life immensely, but at the same time, it's not ending at ten-oh, or 10-one, I want to keep going further," he said. "So as the times come the new lifestyle will hopefully come, but I'll keep plugging along."

Wellesley Bolt