Bolt spikes stolen in England

It was reported yesterday in Jamaican and British news outlets that a pair of spikes signed by sprint star Usain Bolt were stolen last week from an engineering company in Croydon, England, a town south of London.

The spikes are replicas of the shoes the Jamaican icon wore at the 2009 world championships and have his signature on them. They were set to be sold in a charity auction this fall by the engineering firm and were mounted in a display case alongside a picture of Bolt at the 2009 event where he bettered his own 100m and 200m world records.

The orange shoes are worth an estimated $37,000.

Bolt, a six-time Olympic gold medallist, responded to the story on Twitter, asking the thief to return the shoes and suggesting he would be mailing the company a new pair of shoes for auction.

Only natural I sign sum spikes after one of my overly excited fan stole that one..FedEx straight to London later pic.twitter.com/j6brJuT1E5

— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) May 6, 2014

Bolt’s 100m and 200m world records from the 2009 world championships still stand at 9.58 and 19.19.

I know u love me..but please why u had to go stealing that signed Usain Bolt spikes in Croydon, England..I know u going to return it. Right?

— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) May 6, 2014