Usain Bolt's world record 100m time was 'beaten' by his toughest opponent but 'illegal' run never made it into the record books

Sprint icon Usain Bolt stands alone as the fastest human being in history but his 100m world record time was once beaten.

Bolt remains the world record holder for one rather obvious reason, but running 100 metres quicker than his record 9.58 seconds is an impressive sporting achievement however you look at it.

The Jamaican also has the second- and third-fastest recorded 100m times and nobody else has come close to going faster than his quickest time, which he ran at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin – at least not in official world record conditions.

But in 2011, one of Bolt's greatest rivals put in a blistering 100m time of 9.45 seconds live on Japanese television.

Justin Gatlin appeared on the TV show Kasupe! and was challenged to run the distance faster than Bolt.

Impossible challenges don't make good TV, though, so Gatlin was given a helping hand by wind machines at his back that were capable of producing 25m/s speeds.

Bolt's world record was achieved with a tailwind of 0.9m/s. We've checked, and that's less than 25m/s.

Gatlin's track career was marred by a doping ban that took him out of the sport for four years but he ran 100m faster than anyone else in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

He boasts an official personal best of 9.74 seconds and won Olympic gold in Athens in 2004 in a time of 9.85 seconds.

He failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and retired in 2021 at 39 years of age.

Usain Bolt with the 100m world record in 2009 (Image: Getty)

Gatlin was originally banned for eight years after testing positive for "testosterone or its precursor" in 2006 but his sanction was halved by an arbitration panel after authorities accepted that he cooperated with their investigation into the circumstances of his positive tests.

Bolt named Gatlin as his toughest opponent

The American returned and regained his status as one of the world's most formidable sprinters.

Eight-time Olympic gold medal winner Bolt acknowledged that their battle for supremacy at the 2015 World Championships in Doha was his 'hardest race' after returning from injury with Gatlin at the peak of his powers.

Gatlin's semi-final time of 9.77 seconds set him up nicely but he finished one hundredth of a second behind Bolt in the final.

"Coming back from injury I've had a lot of doubters, it's been tough," admitted the world record holder.

"For me to come to the championships and defend my title is a good feeling.

"I definitely think this was my hardest race. I've been through a lot this season."