From athletics to football: Bolt secures trial with German top-flight club Borussia Dortmund

Usain Bolt ? Borussia Dortmund

The Jamaican star takes eight Olympic titles, 11 world titles and three world records to the pitch.

Sprint legend Usain Bolt said Sunday that he hopes to still see his dream of becoming a professional footballer come true when he undergoes a trial at German top-flight club Borussia Dortmund.

However, the multiple Olympic and world champion admitted that he would prefer to play for Manchester United, his favourite team.

“In March we’re going to do a trial with Dortmund and that will determine what I do with that career, which way it goes,” the 31-year-old world record holder told the Sunday Express.

“If they say I’m good, and that I need a bit of training, I’ll do it.

“It makes me nervous. I don’t get nervous but this is different, this is football now. It’ll take time to adjust but once I play a few times I’ll get used to it.”

Bolt shares the same sponsor – Puma – as Dortmund and the trial with the Bundesliga team has been arranged by the sportswear company.

“One of my biggest dreams is to sign for Manchester United. If Dortmund say I’m good enough, I’ll crack on and train hard,” said Bolt.

“I’ve spoken to (former United manager) Alex Ferguson and I told him he needs to put in a good word. He told me if I get fit and ready, he will see what he can do.”

Separately, Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai could become the first athlete to compete at eight Winter Olympics after being selected for next month’s Pyeongchang Games, officials said on Sunday.

The 45-year-old, who made his Olympic debut at Albertville in 1992, will take sole possession of the record he currently shares – seven appearances – with disgraced Russian luger Albert Demchenko.

Kasai won team silver at Lillehammer in 1994, plus silver for the large hill and team bronze at Sochi in 2014 – making him the oldest Olympic ski jumping medallist.

He also has 17 individual World Cup victories to his name after first joining the tour in 1988.

Kasai, who hails from Japan’s rugged northern island of Hokkaido, joins siblings Junshiro and Ryoyu Kobayashi, Daiki Ito and Taku Takeuchi on his country’s ski jumping team for the February 9-25 Games in Pyeongchang in South Korea.

He enjoys a cult following in ski jump-obsessed Finland, where Helsinki punk band Van Dammes recorded a tribute single called Mr Noriaki Kasai in 2014. Polish rapper Koldi has also penned a song about the Japanese legend. Demchenko was one of 11 Russian athletes banned for life by the International Olympic Committee last December.