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The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champion Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder. Gay entered the competition with a season's best of 9.77 seconds (an American record ) while Bolt's season's best was 9.79 seconds.
Several days after Bolt broke the world records in 100 and 200 metres events, Mike Powell, the world record holder in long jump (8.95 metres set in 1991) argued that Bolt could become the first man to jump over 9 metres, the long jump event being "a perfect fit for his speed and height". [158]
Record Athlete Nationality Date Meet Place Ref. Video 100 m: 9.58 (+0.9 m/s) Usain Bolt Jamaica 16 August 2009 World Championships: Berlin, Germany [1] 200 m: 19.19 (−0.3 m/s) Usain Bolt Jamaica 20 August 2009 World Championships: Berlin, Germany [2] 300 m: 30.69 A: Letsile Tebogo Botswana 17 February 2024 Simbine Curro Classic Shoot-Out
World record Usain Bolt (JAM) 9.58: Berlin, Germany: 16 August 2009 Championship record: World Leading Justin Gatlin (USA) 9.74: Doha, Qatar: 15 May 2015 African Record Olusoji Fasuba (NGR) 9.85: Doha, Qatar 12 May 2006 Asian Record Femi Ogunode (QAT) 9.91: Wuhan, China: 4 June 2015 North, Central American and Caribbean record Usain Bolt (JAM) 9.58
The men's world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in 2009, while the women's world record is 10.49 seconds, set by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. [ a ] The unofficial "world's fastest man or woman" title typically goes to the Olympic or world 100 metres champion .
In fourth place, breaking his own European record of 9.97 seconds, was Linford Christie with a time of 9.92 seconds. Maurice Greene , in 1999, was the first athlete to run under 9.80 seconds. Usain Bolt surpassed 9.70 seconds in 2008, and 9.60 in 2009.
Sergey Bubka's 1993 pole vault world indoor record of 6.15 m was not considered to be a world record, because it was set before the new rule came into effect. Bubka's world record of 6.14 m, set outdoors in 1994, was surpassed 7 times indoors by two different men since 2000, most recently by Armand Duplantis in 2025 with a 6.27 m mark.
Bolt improved upon his second 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He has twice broken the 200 metres world record , setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009.