When we watched Jamaica's Usain Bolt destroy the old 100 meter world record and showboat his way over the last ten meters to a 9.68 time enroute to the gold medal, many of us wondered how fast could the 23 year old run if he ran flat out for 100 meters?In the 2009 World Track and Field Championships being held in Berlin, we may have gotten an answer to that question.
In the same stadium in which Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Games, and exactly one year from the date he set the record in Beijing last summer, Usain Bolt obliterated it.
He ran an out of this world 9.58 in the 100m final. If you had any doubts that this man is the real deal and the best sprinter in the world bar none, I think he answered them.
Tyson Gay finished second in 9.71 and became as a consolation prize, the American record holder in the event and the second fastest man of all time.If he stays healthy over the next two years, it's probably safe to say that Bolt will be a prohibitive favorite to repeat his gold medal winning performance in London. There's no one on this planet who can run with him.
Believe it or not, Bolt thinks he can run even faster and lower the record to a mind bending 9.4 seconds.
I don't have any doubts that he can't.
