(SPORTSMAX) Notwithstanding the presence of athletes like Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman, two of the world’s fastest men, 100 and 200m world-record holder Usain Bolt does not believe his records are under threat.
Bolt set world records of 9.58 and 19.19 for the 100m and 200m, respectively, at the World Championships in Berlin in August 2009. Since then, Lyles has perhaps come closest to the 200m record when he ran a personal best 19.50 in Lausanne in July 2019.
Lyle’s personal best in the 100m is 9.86.
Meanwhile, Coleman, the 2019 100m World Champion ran the fastest time since Bolt’s retirement when he clocked 9.76 to win his world title in Doha.
Speaking with Marca Sports Weekend recently, Bolt said while there are many elite sprinters vying for his title of world’s fastest man, none is near his records that have been standing now for more than a decade.
“I think no one will get to my records (soon),” he said. “I don’t think anyone is near my records.
“The level that took me to my records was a long way and took a lot of effort. My physical attributes, the fact that I’m tall, really helped. I think it’s going to take a while until someone gets there.”
At the 2016 Olympics, Bolt became the first sprinter in history to win three consecutive Olympic 100m and 200m titles (2008, 2012 and 2016). He also won 100m World titles in 2009, 2013, and 2015. He won the bronze medal in London in 2017. He also won 200m world titles in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He is the first man to run faster than 9.7 seconds for the 100m and the only man to run faster than 10.6 seconds. He is also the only man to run faster than 19.20 seconds for the 200m.
