Featured Image Credit: Kasupe! / YouTube/SpeedEndurance
Topics: Usain Bolt, Jamaica, Athletics
Ryan Smart
Topics: Usain Bolt, Jamaica, Athletics
Usain Bolt's 100-metre world record was once broken on live TV - but there's a good reason why the record was never counted.
Bolt recorded a stunning time of 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
He also holds the second and third-fastest times in history, having ran 9.63 and 9.69 in 2012 and 2008 respectively.
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No athlete has come close to knocking Bolt off top spot since - and the man himself doesn't believe there is a sprinter out there who can beat it.
A sprinter did technically run quicker than Bolt's 9.58 in 2011 while appearing on a Japanese TV show.
Justin Gatlin made an appearance on the Japanese TV show Kasupe!, where he was challenged to run the 100 metres faster than Bolt.
The catch? Gatlin was aided by wind machines that went up to 25m/s.
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In comparison, Bolt's record saw him run in winds of +0.9m/s - meaning had Bolt run in the same conditions as the United States runner, his time would have been clearly faster.
Gatlin's achievement was recognised with a Guinness World Record plaque on the show, although it wasn't actually counted and Bolt's time still stands in that particular record book.
You can take a look at his run below.
Although his career was blighted by a four-year ban from the sport for doping, Gatlin was still the fastest man in the world for three consecutive years after his return between 2014 and 2016.
He ran a time of 9.80 at the 2015 World Athletics Championships - winning the silver medal behind Bolt - and won bronze behind Bolt and Yohan Blake at the 2012 Olympics in London.
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Gatlin, aged 39, retired from competition in 2021 after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics through the US Olympic trials.