Usain Bolt's average 100m world record speed 'matched' by NBA star as astonishing stats emerge

Usain Bolt's 100m world record speed has been unexpectedly rivalled by an NBA star.

Bolt ran a record time of 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

He had previously broken the world record at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, running 9.69 in the final.

His time of 9.63 at London 2012 means he holds the three fastest times ever ran by an 100-metre sprinter, with his great rival Tyson Gay also running 9.69 in 2009.

Bolt's average speed during his world-record run was 10.44 metres per second, or 23.35 miles per hour.

Nobody else has ever 'legally' ran faster than the Jamaican on flat ground - but an NBA star has run within half a mile per hour as Bolt.

Houston Rockets star Amen Thompson, who stands at 6ft 7in and weighs in at 200lbs, ran a maximum recorded speed of 33.7 feet per second/22.97 miles per hour, as per Sportradar data.

Thompson is two inches taller than Bolt, though the Jamaican weighed in at 7lbs heavier than the 22-year-old shooting guard and small forward during his sprinting career.

Bolt retired from sprinting in 2017 and has yet to return to the track competitively - despite revealing on Justin Gatlin's 'Ready To Go' podcast that he would be willing to take on current Olympic 100m gold medalist Noah Lyles in a one-on-one race.

look at the speed pic.twitter.com/LRrC7OvSqJ

— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) March 31, 2025

Meanwhile, while speaking on former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel's 'Obi One' podcast, Bolt revealed the one man he believes could potentially break his records in the future - but only if he can develop correctly.

He named US star Erriyon Knighton, who didn't qualify for Paris 2024 in the 100m but did so for the 200m, which was Bolt's favoured discipline.

The 21-year-old finished fourth in Paris, running a time of 19.99 in the final.

His personal best - an American junior record - stands at 19.45, which is 0.26 seconds behind Bolt's PB and was set in 2022.

Bolt said: "There is one kid who had my attention for a while. His name is Knighton, from the States. He ran 19.40-something. He's only just turning 20, so he was pretty good.

"But it's all about developing the talent. You have to find a good coach, someone to nurture and understand how to nurture the talent and help to build that talent."