Usain Bolt's 100m World Record Under Threat as Surprise Announcement Made

Usain Bolt's 100-metre world record could come under serious threat later this year - though any new record won't count in the official record books.

Bolt's record time of 9.58 seconds has now stood for almost 17 years, with the Jamaican having ran the time at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

He smashed his own previous record of 9.69, which was ran in the 100-metre Olympic final.

Bolt ended his career in 2017 with a haul of eight Olympic gold medals, and no athlete has come close to match either the 9.58 or his 19.19 world record over 200 metres.

For comparison, the fastest man in the world in 2025 was Kishane Thompson, whose time of 9.75 is still comfortably short of Bolt's record.

Bolt's compatriot Oblique Seville - who Bolt himself has tipped to potentially break his record - ran a personal-best 9.77 to win the 100m final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Bolt's world record of 9.58 has stood since 2009 (Image: Getty)

The Jamaican's record could be beaten via an entirely different source in 2026.

British sprinter Reece Prescod, who retired from athletics last year, has become the latest athlete to sign up to the hugely controversial Enhanced Games.

The Games, a multi-sport event proposed by Australian businessman Aron D'Souza, allows competitors to take performance-enhancing substances without being subjected to drug testing.

Many have warned about the potential dangers of allowing what is effectively a free-for-all doping event to occur, with some warning that there must at least be a degree of regulation in place.

An athlete commission from UK Anti-Doping described the Games as a 'reckless venture' which could 'damage the integrity of world sport irrevocably'.

Prescod, who is 29 and has a personal best of 9.93, isn't likely to get close to Bolt's record, particularly as he failed to go under 10 seconds during the 2024 season.

Reece Prescod has signed up for the Enhanced Games (Image: Getty)

But one sprinter who could feasibly break it is Fred Kerley of the United States.

The 30-year-old won the silver medal over 100 metres at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and bronze at Paris 2024.

His personal best stands at 9.76, which he ran at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene.

Enhanced Games organisers have offered Kerley a prize sum of $1 million if he can break Bolt's record, as per BBC Sport.

The first Enhanced Games event is scheduled to take place in June 2026.

World Athletics does not recognise the Enhanced Games as a legitimate competition, and therefore any new world record holder from the event would not officially enter the record books.

In response to an anti-trust lawsuit submitted against them by the Enhanced Games, the World Anti-Doping Agency stated in August: "WADA stands by the firm position it has taken against this ill-conceived event.

"[It] welcomes the unequivocal support it has received from numerous athletes, governments of the world, UNESCO, international sporting federations and others, who all see the Enhanced Games as a potential threat to athlete safety.

"The physical and mental toll that performance-enhancing drugs have taken on athletes over the years has been substantial. People have died."