Bahamian sprinter Terrence Jones on emulating Usain Bolt: "He won his first Olympic title at 21. During Paris 2024, I'll be 21."

A shy, “goofy middle child” in his family known as both a jokester and protector, Bahamian sprinter Terrence Jones still has a hard time believing where his speed has taken him – and how fast.

“I don't think me from five years ago would even believe that I'm a real person,” Jones, 20, told Olympics.com recently. “Or that we’re the same person. If you go back to 10th grade me, I don't he would have had enough confidence to say that I would reach this level.”

Earlier this year, Jones tied the Bahamas national record for the men’s 100m as he competed collegiately for Texas Tech, his 9.91 equalling the time Derrick Atkins ran to take silver at the 2007 World Athletics Championships.

Jones’ self-described humble roots are part of what has left him so in awe of his recent accomplishments, which also include an indoor national and NCAA record in the 60m (6.45).

He wants to continue to write his success story over the next pivotal 12 months.

“Growing up in the Bahamas wasn't always easy,” Jones said. “But they teach you to appreciate the smaller things. Life in the Bahamas made me who I am now, it made me humble and appreciative.

"It teaches you that you can come from nothing and build your way up to something. That's the main aspect of my story I want people to hear."

Terrence Jones: Finding his speed

It was in 2019 that Texas Tech sprint coach Zach Glavash discovered Jones at a meet in the Bahamas, the veteran coach seeing something in a teenaged Terrence that had yet to materialise on the track.

“He saw things in me that I didn't see in myself,” Jones recalled. “I owe it all to him. He’s stuck with me even in times where I shut everyone out, these dark moments. But him believing in me is what got my head in the right place.”

Jones has spent the last three seasons as a Red Raider in Lubbock, Texas, and in June he won the bronze medal at the NCAA Championships in the men’s 200m, his 19.87 a personal best and still among the 10 fastest times in the event this year.

He was third in that race with Texas Tech teammate Courtney Lindsey - who will represent the United States at the upcoming Budapest World Championships after beating Fred Kerley to third place at the U.S. Trials - just a hundredth of a second ahead of him.

But fast times are part of the bigger picture, Jones said of his approach with Robinson. And bigger meets are becoming more familiar territory for him, too.

“Honestly, I don't really worry about times in meets,” said Jones. “How my coach explains it to me is, 'All you have to do is execute and the time will come after.’ I feel like I have enough confidence in my training to know that as long as I execute and finish a race healthy that the times will automatically come.”

Jones said he still feels “a step behind” the best sprinters in the world, not because of speed but more due to a lack of consistency.

With two top-10 sprint times in the world this season – in the 100m and 200m – there is reason to believe that consistency is just around the corner.

“It feels like all the hard work is paying off,” Jones said. “To see my name there, among the top rankings in the world with so many world-class athletes... it's something to keep me going, keep me motivated.”

From the Bahamas to the world stage

Jones grew up as the middle child in a family of eight. His mom told him that he began running at just seven months old, but he didn’t take to track until he was in high school.

His roots in the Bahamas provided challenges, he said, one of dreaming big dreams but also of having the necessary tools to level up as an athlete on the global stage.

“I feel like if I didn't get into sports I wouldn't be the person that I am right now,” a reflective Jones said. “I'm grateful for it. It's a better life than I had.”

He said trips back to the Bahamas now attract whispers of "Hey! There’s Terrence Jones!" especially when he goes for a workout at the track. But his role in his close-knit family has not changed at all.

“They are literally the reason that I'm doing all of this,” Jones said of his family. “Without them, I wouldn't have the drive.

"I think they know that, so I think they give me as much support as possible. Even at meets when they know that it didn't go how I wanted it to. They are always that shoulder to lean on. I'm thankful for that.”

There is a bubbling crop of young track talent in the Bahamas that Jones said need to get some of the breaks he has as an athlete, too.

“I've been through a lot to get here,” he said. “I would say that [the Bahamas] has a lot of young talent. We just need the exposure that I got that can bring them into the limelight. We need them, for starters, to stay focused, and to get onto a bigger stage so that they can build off of that talent to become world-class athletes.”

Is Jones’ potentially burgeoning success on the international stage a key to that for the next generation?

“If you know my personality, I'm a bit shy," he said, then added: "If that's what it takes then I'm totally up for it.”

Budapest, Paris and a 21-year-old Usain Bolt

Jones turns 21 in November ahead of next year's Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

As he points out, that's the same age Usain Bolt was when he had his breakout performance at Beijing 2008.

“If you look back at Usain Bolt, he won his first Olympic championship at 21,” Jones noted with a coy smile. “During Paris 2024 I'm going to be 21. So... I hope I see a little bit of correlation.”

He said he pictures “Paris as my breakthrough" although he’ll also have high expectations at the Worlds in Budapest.

And becoming an Olympian is what his younger self dreamed of.

“The Olympics is that meet where only the best of the best compete,” he said. “To be there, I think that will make childhood me really happy.

"Obviously, it's a lifelong dream of any track athlete to make it to the Olympics and make it to the podium. I don't want to be cliche, but that's my goal, too.”

There is a great deal being thrown at Jones in his young career, but he’s taking it all in stride, saying: “This is all new to me. I'm trying to live in the moment and enjoy right now. For the future I'm mostly nervous, but beyond that nervousness I'm mostly excited because I've never experienced anything like this before. I'm excited to see where it takes me.”

And has he encountered the famous Mr Bolt yet?

“I haven't met him yet,” he replied. “But I need to run fast first. Run faster... then meet Usain.”