There is a good reason why Usain Bolt’s 100-meter world record was never counted, despite the fact that it was once broken on live television. When Bolt competed in the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, he set a record of 9.58 seconds. Additionally, he holds the second and third fastest timings in history, with respective times of 9.63 and 9.69 in 2012 and 2008.
Since then, no athlete has challenged Bolt for the top place, and the guy himself doesn’t think a sprinter can top it. Technically, a sprinter who competed on a Japanese TV competition in 2011 ran faster than Bolt’s 9.58. During his appearance on the Japanese television program Kasupe!, Justin Gatlin was challenged to outrun Bolt in the 100-meter race. The catch? Wind machines that could reach speeds of up to 25 m/s helped Gatlin.
Bolt’s time would have been obviously faster if he had ran under the same conditions as the American runner, given his record was set in gusts of +0.9 m/s. Although Bolt’s time is still recorded in that specific record book, Gatlin’s accomplishment was acknowledged with a Guinness World Record plaque on the show, even if it wasn’t technically counted. He ran, which you can see below.
Gatlin’s four-year suspension from the sport for doping marred his career, but he returned from 2014 to 2016 and was the world’s fastest man for three years in a row.
He finished second to Bolt in the 2015 World Athletics Championships with a time of 9.80, and he took home bronze at the 2012 London Olympics behind Bolt and Yohan Blake.
The 39-year-old Gatlin resigned from sport in 2021 after the US Olympic trials could not qualify him for the Tokyo Olympics.
Featured Image Credit: Kasupe! / YouTube/SpeedEndurance
Topics: Usain Bolt, Jamaica, Athletics
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