Usain Bolt recently shared a video on Instagram of his record-breaking 100-meter race. In 2009, Bolt set the world record by running 100 meters in 9.58 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
In the video, Bolt talked about his thoughts during the race. He focused on getting the first 50 meters right. At 30 meters, he was slightly behind, but by 50 meters, he caught up with the others. Bolt expected fellow sprinter Asafa Powell to be ahead, but he wasn’t. Bolt realized at 80 meters that he was going to win.
“When the race started, it was just, ‘I need to get this 1st 50 right’… When that race was running 30 meters. I looked, I was slightly behind and I ran to 50 and I was in line with everyone… Well, I expected Asafa (Asafa Powell Jamaican athlete) to be ahead, of everybody who looked across. He wasn’t there. So I was like, you know what, continue running. Ran to 60, kind of checked, ran to 70.” Bolt said.
Then finally just as Bolt realized that he was about to win his opponent Asafa Powell A Jamaican runner was left behind, Bolt’s reaction was priceless.
“And I got to 80 meters, I was like, hold on, where’s Asafa? You know what I mean? And then I was like, oh shit, I’m gonna win. ” Bolt said.
Bolt’s father, Wellesley Bolt, shared that he was very nervous and even shed tears during the race.
“I was nervous. Believe you me. I shed tears.” Wellesley said.
His mother, Jennifer Bolt, said she felt like she was running the race with him.
” I ran the race with Usain, I was up jumping. ” said Jennifer.
Commentators were amazed by how easily Bolt won. One noted that they had never seen another 100-meter Olympic champion dominate a race like that.
” I have never seen another hundred-meter Olympic champion run that easy. He dominated this field.” a commentator said.
Bolt’s 9.58-second record still stands today. The closest anyone has come is 9.69 seconds, run by Tyson Gay in 2009. Bolt also holds the second-fastest time, 9.63 seconds, from the 2012 London Olympics.
Top 10, 100 meters sprints by runners from different nations ft. Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt rules when it comes to the top three fasted 100-meter sprints. All three spots belong to him. Apart from him, runners like Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, and Justin Gatlin have made it to the top 10 sprints list.
The fastest 100-meter sprints are:
- Usain Bolt (Jamaica) – 9.58 seconds (Berlin, 2009)
- Usain Bolt (Jamaica) – 9.63 seconds (London, 2012)
- Usain Bolt (Jamaica) – 9.69 seconds (Beijing, 2008)
- Tyson Gay (USA) – 9.69 seconds (Shanghai, 2009)
- Yohan Blake (Jamaica) – 9.69 seconds (Lausanne, 2012)
- Tyson Gay (USA) – 9.71 seconds (Berlin, 2009)
- Usain Bolt (Jamaica) – 9.72 seconds (New York, 2008)
- Asafa Powell (Jamaica) – 9.72 seconds (Lausanne, 2008)
- Asafa Powell (Jamaica) – 9.74 seconds (Rieti, 2007)
- Justin Gatlin (USA) – 9.74 seconds (Doha, 2015)
The most recent top times include Fred Kerley (USA) with 9.76 seconds (2022), joined by Christian Coleman (USA, 2019) and Trayvon Bromell (USA, 2021). Zharnel Hughes (UK) and Noah Lyles (USA) ran 9.83 seconds in July 2023, ranking them 15th on the all-time list.
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