Usain Bolt has already revealed whether he could regain one of his sprinting records, which was broken by another athlete last week.

Bolt, 38, is still the 100 and 200m world record holder, having run 9.58s and 19.19s in the respective events at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Championship in Berlin, Germany.

To this day, no man has run as fast as Bolt, although the Jamaican backed Oblique Seville as the one athlete who could achieve the remarkable feat.

“I feel like Oblique can do it,” said Bolt on The Fix Podcast earlier this year. “If he can stay fit during the season and get it right, I feel he can do it, because I am sure there is something there, the ability to do it.”

 

He added: “Some of the time Oblique can be fragile. It’s a matter of the work situation or whatever, but if he’s doing enough work, he can do it. It’s a matter of time because he’s not missed the finals yet, so it’s just to get over the hump.”

Since Bolt’s peak, very few sprinters have come close to the times he set, although one record was broken by South African athlete Akani Simbine.

Sambine, 31, became the first sprinter to run sub-10 seconds in the 100m for 11 years on the trot, beating Bolt’s record of 10 years in a row, last week.

Usain Bolt’s 100m world record under threat

Bolt’s 100m world record could soon be bettered if ‘super tracks’ are approved by World Athletics.

 

As reported by The Telegraph earlier in March, a Cambridge-based laboratory has designed what they believe to be the world’s first ‘digital smart track’.

The report adds that sensors around the track will provide ‘a raft of real-time data’, with initial testing suggesting that it will have ‘an energy return that is some 20 per cent greater than existing tracks’.

And ‘positive’ talks are said to have taken place between the laboratory and World Athletics over whether the ‘super track’ can be used in competition.

Feldspar chief Alvina Chen believes that with the huge advancements, “early nine seconds if not sub nine seconds for a human” could be achieved, which would beat Bolt’s long-standing record.

 

However, this is subject to approval by the sport’s governing body.

Usain Bolt on if he could regain world record

So, if Bolt’s 100m world record is eclipsed, could he return and regain it, and if so what time could he run?

Well, he revealed exactly how quickly he feels he could run now, when speaking on the Obi One podcast in July 2024, a month before his 38th birthday.

 

“10 and a half, that would be me,” said Bolt when asked how quickly he can run over 100m.

“I’ll probably rip my hamstring,” he joked.

So it is unlikely that we will ever see the great Jamaican at his best again.