KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC):

USAIN BOLT plans to do some training in Ireland during the coming year, and will make a stopover in Germany for specialised driving classes before heading to Monaco for the IAAF World Athletics Gala on Sunday.

The world's fastest man continues to make headlines as he continues revel in the spotlight following his amazing year in international track and field.

The Independent newspaper in Ireland reported yesterday that Sports Minister Martin Cullen was trying to organise a visa for the Jamaican athlete to travel to Ireland to train at the University of Limerick.

Best facility

Cullen believes Bolt's decision has been triggered by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team who highly praised the training facilities at the university.

"It's the All Blacks factor," he said. "They told me that the facilities in Limerick were the best they had encountered. So, I am currently trying to get a visa for Bolt, who wants to come to the University of Limerick to train and use the facilities there."

Before he heads to Ireland, Bolt will get to attend the World famous BMW 'M' driver school at Nurem-berg Ring in Germany.

The 22-year-old left Kingston on Wednesday for the World Athletes Gala.

He will make a brief stop in Germany, where he will get driving lessons for the unique BMW M Class vehicle which was a birthday gift from apparel sponsors Puma, days after his exploits at the Olympic Games in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

Major awards

Bolt is expected to walk away with at least two major awards at this Sunday's World Athletics Gala.

He has been nominated in the categories for the Male World Athlete of the Year and Male Performance of the Year.

This year, Bolt became the first man to win three major sprinting events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis two dozen years ago, and the first man in history to set world records in three races at a single Olympics.

In Beijing, he claimed gold with a record of 9.69 seconds in the 100 metres dash and set a record of 19.30 seconds in the 200 metres.

Along with his Jamaica team-mates, he also set a record for the 4x100 metres relay at 37.10 seconds.