Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt is human just like the rest of us, admitting retirement sees the famed sprinter now getting out of breath after walking up the stairs.

Widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time, the 39-year-old, who still holds the world records for the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay, told reporters at the World Athletics Championships that due to a ruptured achilles, he no longer runs.

“No, I mostly do gym workouts. I’m not a fan, but I think now that I’ve been out for a while, I have to actually start running because, when I walk up stairs, I get out of breath,” he told assembled media in Tokyo, including The Guardian and The Telegraph.

“I think when I start working on it fully again, I will probably have to do some laps just to get my breathing right.”

The Jamaican announced his retirement from elite sprinting in 2017. When asked about his daily routine nowadays, he said he now spends much of his time with his children.

“Well, normally, I wake up just in time to see the kids off to school, and then it depends on what I have to do. If I have nothing to do, I just chill out. I might work out sometimes if I’m in a good mood. I just watched some series and am chilling until the kids come home.

“I spend some time with them, hang out, until they start annoying me, then I leave. And then afterwards, I just stay at home and watch movies, or I’m into Lego now, so I do Lego.”

When asked why the current cohort of runners hasn’t yet caught up with his generation, despite technological advancements such as spikes, he replied: “You want the real answer? We’re just more talented.

“That’s all I’m saying. Of course, it shows when it comes to the men. You can see that the women are different. They’re running faster times and faster times. So it shows – it has to be the talent.”

He nodded to fellow Jamaican sprinting legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s times post-spikes.

“You have Shelly, who has got the new spikes, and she ran faster. So it’s just the talent. We’re just way more talented men over that time. It shows if you look at it.”