The 100m sprint is one of the most famous aspects of track and field competitions. This is because it’s the shortest possible distance to measure the fastest man on the planet. Whoever finishes the race in the shortest time lays claim to the world’s fastest man title. Over the years, the world has become more enthusiastic about the 100m race due to the heroics of Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, and Asafa Powell.
While the 4 x 100m race is also thrilling, no track event compares to the 100m sprint in terms of build-up. This is because the race is purely individual, and record times are usually on the line. The history of the 100m race goes as far back as the 1896 Summer Olympics, where the men’s category was first contested. However, it wasn’t until 1928 before the women’s category was introduced at the Olympic Games
The 100m race is now so famous that its trademark “on your marks, set, go” features prominently among young kids across the world looking to determine who’s fastest. At athletic meets, athletes begin to race at the sound of a starter gun. Any attempt to begin the race before the gun sounds is deemed a false start and result in the disqualification of the affected sprinter.
What Is The Fastest Time Ever Recorded in A 100M Race?
Before the 1990s, it was complex and considered world-class for a sprinter to finish the 100-meter race within 10 seconds. Most runners then did it in 10 or more seconds. The first runner to post a sub-10 second performance in a 100m race was Jim Hines in 1968. Back then, race times were recorded manually by officials with a stopwatch. Officials were to start the timing at the flash of the starter gun and stop it when the sprinter completes the race. There were usually three officials, and the median time recorded was taken as the official one.
Jim Hines first posted a 9.8 seconds finish during the heats of the 1968 AAU National Championships. Hines later won the semifinal race in 9.9 seconds, with Ray Smith coming second with the same 9.9 seconds. The second semifinal race saw Charles Greene yet again equal this unique timing. That night is now known as the “Night of Speed”. All of these times were hand-timed with the aid of stopwatches. Since fully automatic timing came on board, the IAAF has now recorded these times as 10.03, 10.14 and 10.10, respectively.
According to MightyTips’ team, if there indeed was a night of speed, it happened on the 16th of August 2009 when Usain Bolt set the fastest time ever recorded in a 100m race at the 2009 IAAF World Championship in Berlin. The Jamaican completed the race in 9.58 seconds to become the fastest man in history, beating his previous record of 9.69. In that race, five athletes ran sub-10 second times in a 100m race. Tyson Gay, who came second, ran 9.71, fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell ran 9.84, while Bailey and Thompson were tied at 9.93. Four days later, Bolt also set the world record for the 200m race at 19.19 seconds. Usain Bolt also holds the 100m Olympic record with a race time of 9.63, set at London 2012.
The Top Five Fastest Men In History
The sad thing about individual sports is that only a few people remember your name if you weren’t the greatest or one of them. However, the 100m race has been so keenly contested in the last twelve years that all of the names below sound familiar. Here, we present to you the five fastest men to have run the 100-meters.
- Usain Bolt: The retired Jamaican sprinter remains the fastest man in world history. Throughout his career, Bolt continually broke and reset records. The blistering runner went from 9.69 races to set the current world record of 9.58. It remains to be seen whether anyone will break his record. As mentioned earlier, he also holds the Olympic record at 9.63 seconds.
- Tyson Gay: The athletics world will never forget American runner Tyson Gay for delivering a solid finish at Berlin 2009, where he came second with a time of 9.71 seconds. Tyson Gay has now improved his timing to 9.69 and has stated that he believes he can eclipse Bolt’s 9.58 record. Tyson Gay heroics make him the fastest American sprinter ever.
- Yohan Blake: Finishing a 100-meter race in 9.69 is a milestone for any sprinter at the moment. Alongside Bolt and Tyson Gay, Blake is one of the only three men to finish the race in 9.69 seconds. Also of Jamaican origin, Yohan Blake is the youngest 100m world champion in history, winning the IAAF in 2011.
- Asafa Powell: Before Bolt came along, Powell was Jamaica’s golden boy. The blistering runner twice set world record times in the 100-meter race at 9.77 and 9.74 in the space of three years. He’s now the fourth fastest man of all time with a 9.72 personal best set in 2008.
- Justin Gatlin: While he was banned for four years, Justin Gatlin remains one of the most successful American sprinters in history. He’s a two-time world champion and has five Olympic medals to his name. His personal best of 9.74 puts him in fifth place on the fastest men of all-time list.
Also worthy of mention is the United States’ Christian Coleman with a personal best of 9.76. Though he is currently suspended, Coleman is the current World Champion. At 25, he’s done quite well for himself and just might break some records in the nearest future. With the Tokyo Olympics coming soon, you can expect more thrilling and record-breaking times. For more information on sports news, track events, and google pay betting sites, click here to subscribe.