On August 16, 2009, Usain Bolt won the 100m final at the World Athletics Championships in a world record time.
It's a record that has stood for nearly 15 years, but there is a new crop of hungry sprinters going for gold at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer - will we see more history made?
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Bolt sprinted across the finish line in an astonishing 9.58 seconds in 2009, comfortably beating his own record that he had set the year prior in a historic performance at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
To this day, that incredible run from the iconic Jamaican is yet to be beaten and no one has even come close. In fact, not a single 100m sprinter has run faster than 9.70 seconds this decade.
But while Bolt’s world record is currently looking unbeatable, there’s still a decent group of sprinters who are hoping to become the fastest of all time.
Although it’s looking unlikely any of them will be able to run faster than 9.58 any time soon – and probably not at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – who says they won’t be able to do so in the future?
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Christian Coleman
US sprinter Christian Coleman believes it won’t be long before Bolt’s 100m world record is broken, telling reporters last month: “9.58 is obviously an extraordinary time but honestly I feel like it’s a lot of guys who are competing today who are not that far off, if the track gods see fit for it to happen.
“But it has to be perfect conditions, on the right day, the right competition and the right venue. If you’re focusing on running properly, like executing a good race, I feel like those types of magical moments happen.”
While Coleman played down suggestions that he could be the one to break the record, he is one of three to be closest to Bolt’s fastest time. The 28-year-old ran 9.76 at the 2019 World Athletics Championships as he took the gold medal.
He was then suspended from athletics for a missed drugs test and wasn’t able to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but is in contention for a medal at Paris 2024. Whether he’ll be able to come close to Bolt’s world record remains to be seen.
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Fred Kerley
Fred Kerley is another to have a personal best of 9.76 and has probably been the most consistent 100m runner this decade. After finishing with the silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, he earned his first 100m world title in 2022.
His achievements are even more remarkable considering he switched from the 400m to shorter distances in 2021.
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The 29-year-old was once confident about beating Bolt’s world record, although his outlook might have changed since exiting the 100m contest at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the semi-finals.
“It’s very realistic,” Kerley told The Independent in October 2022. “Everything is realistic; Bolt, Wayde [Van Niekerk], and all of the American greats. They put the bar up there for us to do it.
“If they can do it, then why not us? I’ve got to continue to train right, eat right, sleep right. These small things will help me to get to the bigger goals down the line. The records and that double gold.
“I speak to him [Bolt] on social media. But we don’t talk about records. He put the bar up there for us to go and attack it. He’s got the bar, we’re just trying to get there.”
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Trayvon Bromell
The third and final sprinter to run 9.76 is another American, Trayvon Bromell, who did so at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi in September 2021.
It was the perfect recovery from a disappointing performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with Bromell not even making the 100m final. There had been a lot of expectation surrounding Bromell heading into the Games, with Bolt even saying he was his athlete to watch.
Indeed, the 28-year-old has certainly appeared to struggle when the pressure is most intense, but perhaps he will be able to prove the doubters wrong at Paris 2024 and move closer to Bolt’s world record.
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Marcell Jacobs
Marcell Jacobs stunned the world when he won the 100m gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, consigning Kerley to a silver medal.
The Italian was a relative unknown, having switched from long jump to sprinting in 2019. His biggest win prior to the Olympics had been a 60m gold medal at the European Indoor Championships.
While Jacobs was touted as Bolt’s heir apparent after Tokyo 2020, his personal best time of 9.80 is slower than Coleman, Kerley and Bromell. He also failed to make it past the 100m semi-finals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Whether Jacobs’s gold medal at Tokyo 2020 was a flash in the pan remains to be seen, but he’s already surprised everyone once before. Maybe he is on track to do it again by breaking Bolt’s world record.
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Noah Lyles
Noah Lyles, the reigning 100m and 200m world champion, is the youngest among this group of athletes.
It’s probably more likely Lyles will be able to break Bolt’s world record in the 200m, but the 26-year-old’s increased focus on the 100m has meant he is starting to become a contender across the shorter distance too.
Lyles is somewhat slower than his American teammates and Jacobs, with his fastest 100m time of 9.83 coming with his world title last year.
But he is confident he can break Bolt’s record, telling the World Athletics podcast The Inside Track that he was building up to doing so at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
"Specifically for this year, I want to consolidate myself as the fastest man in the world in the 100 and 200 metres," Lyle said to the podcast.
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"I definitely have my sights set on the American record in the 100 metres and even the world record… I want Los Angeles (2028 Olympics) to be my masterpiece, the highlight of my career."
So while Bolt’s 100m world record may not be broken any time soon, we may only have to wait until 2028 to see someone run faster than 9.58.
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