We’ve already been competing for more than a week at the 2024 Olympic Games, and although the medallists in several disciplines are already known, there is still much to be decided at the great event of world sport. In the coming days we will experience the finals of some of the most important events of each edition, such as the 100-metre dash, the winner of which will be announced this Sunday, July 4.
The grand finale is scheduled for 21:50 CET, when eight runners will battle it out for every athlete’s dream: winning an Olympic gold medal. The most ambitious might also have another goal in mind: beating Usain Bolt’s world record for the 100 metres, one of the most difficult times to beat in Paris 2024.
What is the world record?
‘Lightning Bolt’ or simply ‘The Fastest Man in the World’ are not nicknames that are given to just anyone on the planet. Usain Bolt is one of the most important sportsmen of the present century, and one of his main achievements is setting the world record for the 100 metres. It was in 2009 when the Jamaican ran the 100 metres in 9.58 seconds. That same year, Thyson Gay achieved the second best time recorded with 9.69 seconds, a record also held by Yohan Blake.
Where and how he broke the record
From the end of the 20th century until 2009, world records changed relatively quickly, as the marks were very close and athletes constantly surpassed each other. Everything changed when Usain Bolt came along and changed the rules of the game. The Jamaican arrived at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the world record in his hands, but he himself beat it at the Olympics by clocking 9.69 seconds in the 100-meter final.
Bolt was in top form, and saw the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin as the perfect time and place to write his name in permanent ink into the history books. In the World Championships final, the Jamaican ran 44.72 km/h and stopped the clock at 9.58 seconds, a record that, so far, no one has come close to beating.
Women’s record
Although it may be hard to believe, the women’s world record for the 100 metres has not been broken since 1988. That year, American athlete Florence Griffith stopped the clock at 10.49 seconds. It was at the Indianapolis trials, and in 1988, Griffith made history at the Seoul Olympics by winning three gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4×100 metres relay.
