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

Usain Bolt remains the fastest man in history, but his impressive 100m world record time was once beaten.

During the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Bolt made history as he set the fastest 100 metres sprint time ever, crossing the line in 9.58 seconds.

Several men have since tried to best the Jamaican's record, including current Olympic champion Noah Lyles, but 17 years later, Bolt remains on top.

However, one of Bolt's fiercest rivals did once clock in with an even faster 100m time, finishing the race in 9.45 seconds while live on Japanese television.

Justin Gatlin ran against Bolt throughout his career, and while appearing on a TV show named 'Kasupe!', he was challenged with finally running 100m faster than his rival.

But, in order to boost Gatlin's chances of becoming the fastest man alive, the American was given an advantage as wind machines were placed behind the starting block and along the track to boost speed.

These machines gave the American a 25m/s tailwind, significantly boosting his speed.

To put that in perspective, Bolt achieved his world record time with a tailwind of just 0.9m/s.

In order to be recognised as a legal record, wind speeds of less than 2m/s, meaning that Gatlin's tailwind comfortably surpassed the limit.

Instead, his actual 100m personal best is an impressive 9.74 seconds, achieved in 2015, while a time of 9.85 seconds was enough to claim Olympic gold in Athens in 2004.

However, Gatlin's career is often overshadowed by the doping bans that led to him being sidelined for six years, first in 2001 (two years, reduced to one) for amphetamines, and again in 2006 (eight years, reduced to four) after testing positive for "testosterone or its precursor".

Usain Bolt names Justin Gatlin as the toughest opponent in his career

Despite this, Bolt still clearly has plenty of respect for the American, labelling their clash at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing as his 'hardest race'

As Bolt returned from injury, Gatlin was enjoying his fastest ever season yet, as proven by him setting his career best 100m time.

However, he ultimately had to settle for silver after finishing just a hundredth of a second behind Bolt, who later admitted how much he had struggled to beat his rival.

Bolt said: "Coming back from injury I've had a lot of doubters, it's been tough.

"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."