He's the fastest man in the world and, for some of the Bay of Plenty's speediest young stars, Usain Bolt was also teacher and trainer in a once-in-a-lifetime training session.
Usain Bolt, who can run 100m in a lightning 9.58 seconds, last night held a training session with promising sprinting stars from across the country.
Joseph Millar, of Tauranga, and Molly Florence, of Rotorua, were invited to attend.
Bolt had some sage words of advice for Millar, who is the national 100m and 200m champion. The 20-year-old is aiming to become the first New Zealander to go under 10 seconds and picked up some useful tips. "It's definitely going to change the way I train," Millar said. "Just to see someone who runs that fast in the flesh is something special for me. I'm really, really happy I trained hard enough to get this opportunity.
"He's definitely the guy I look up to. It's not just the times he runs but the person he is at the same time."
Millar said being able to meet and train with the fastest man in the world was surreal.
"I told Athletics New Zealand it was something I'd wanted to do. He's the guy you aim to be," the 20-year-old said.
"He's like the carrot you have out in front of the donkey.
"That's what he is to me, something to chase, something to aspire to."
Florence, who won gold at this year's nationals in the 100m and is a member of the NZ women's 4x100m relay squad, could not be reached for comment last night.
Earlier in the day, Bolt was fascinated by a haka and powhiri at an Auckland factory, although he didn't want to get too close to the swinging taiaha.
"It was different, it was good," he said. "It gave me the chills, the energy they had. I would love to do something like that.
"I would love to learn."
He later turned down the chance at the official press conference, believing "I would look silly doing it" without proper instruction, and instead stepped into more familiar territory in a coaching session with eight promising New Zealand track athletes at North Shore's Millennium Institute.
Bolt the Showman was never far from view on the promotional visit for sports drink Gatorade.
He often brought out his signature lightning bolt pose and matched his usual pre-race theatrics when challenged to a race and tried to psyche out his opposition.
He looked comfortable, which was in stark contrast to an earlier appearance at Breakers training, when he was put on the spot and asked to show off his basketball prowess - he missed his first eight free-throws and only looked comfortable when slam-dunking the ball - which he did easily, of course.
"People always say I'm cocky," he said. "I don't know why. I guess it's because of what I do on the track. That's just for the fans.
"The original people loved it so I just do it for the fans because they are the ones who build us and make us who we are.
"The inspiration behind the lightning bolt pose just happened. The gimmicks I do are to make me relax when I get to the line and not worry about the competition because when you start worrying you get tense and you might false start."
Bolt was charming, amiable and mostly relaxed, despite a highly regulated schedule.
He arrived in Auckland from Australia in the morning and was due to be in the country for less than 24 hours - only those with security clearance really knew what his plans were.
After a couple more photos, Bolt jumped into a helicopter and took off.
Just like that, the public side of his visit to New Zealand was over.
A bit like a lightning bolt, really.