Usain Bolt believes Novak Djokovic's feat of winning 24 Grand Slam titles is more difficult than breaking his 100m world record.
Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Bolt, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time, still holds the world record for the men's 100m and 200m sprints, more than 15 years after setting them.
At the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, the Jamaican recorded a time of 9.58 seconds in the 100m and remarkably, he also clocked 19.19 seconds in the 200m that day.
The 39-year-old walked away from the track almost a decade ago, yet both world records are still intact.
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Back in 2009, America's Tyson Gay ran the 100m in 9.69 seconds, making him the second-fastest man in the world at the time.
Three years later, Jamaica's Yohan Blake became the joint-second-fastest man of all time alongside Gay after clocking a time of 9.69 seconds at the Diamond League in Switzerland in 2012.
But to this day, nobody has come close to Bolt's seemingly untouchable record. That being said, he believes winning 24 Grand Slam titles in tennis is more difficult than breaking the 100m record.
In total, Novak Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slams, which include ten Australian Open victories, three Roland Garros wins and seven Wimbledon titles, not to mention four wins at the US Open.
Speaking to Eurosport at the Monte-Carlo Masters this week, Bolt was asked the following question: "In your opinion, what is more difficult - running 100m in 9.58 seconds, or winning 24 Grand Slam titles like Novak Djokovic?"
Without hesitation, Bolt replied: "I'd say 24 Grand Slams, for sure. I'm positive about that. He (Djokovic) is a wonderful athlete, and I've met him a few times. He is just a wonderful person."
Scientists revealed whether Usain Bolt's 100m world record will ever be broken
Back in 2022, scientists Polly McGuigan and Aki Salo theorised that Usain Bolt's record could be broken in the future, and believe that a 100m time of under nine seconds may be possible to achieve.
However, they claimed a mixture of genetics and training would be needed, meaning that time would not be even remotely possible for a number of generations.
Their findings read: "A combination of genetics and training would need to produce bum, thigh and calf muscles which are a little bit stronger and faster than the current best sprinters.
"A muscle with a high proportion of large, fast twitch muscle fibres will be able to generate larger amounts of force more quickly than a muscle with a lower proportion."
They added: "It's safe to say that someone will break the nine second barrier - not necessarily in our lifetime, but it will happen one day."
Topics: Athletics, Usain Bolt
Jack Kenmare