Thirteen years ago, Usain Bolt set a new 100m world record in New York with a time of 9.72 seconds.
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Usain Bolt set a new 100m world record in New York on this day (May 27) but thirteen years ago in the year 2008. Bolt set a new 100m world record with a time of 9.72 seconds. The Jamaican beat fellow Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell’s record of 9.74 seconds set at the IAAF Grand Prix in Rieti, Italy, a year earlier. The 34-year-old went on to beat his own record at the Bejing Olympics just 11 weeks later, recording a time of 9.69. Not content with this, Bolt went on to shatter that exactly one year later with a staggering 9.58 run at the World Championships in Berlin.
The Jamaican was being primed for a career as a 400m runner just a year or two before recording the initial world record.
“Just coming here, knowing a lot of Jamaicans were here giving me their support, it meant a lot,” said Bolt as quoted by ESPN.
“I just wanted to give them what they wanted,” he added.
Bolt currently holds the world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m with times of 9.58 secs, 19.19 secs and 36.84 secs. The Jamaican has been awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year on four occasions (2009, 2010, 2013 & 2017); the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016) as well as many awards in many countries in all corners of the world.
Bolt, created history at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio when he achieved the ‘Triple Triple’, three gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games. The Jamaican has a clothing line with Puma; a range of signature watches with Hublot. He also owns a restaurant chain called ‘Tracks & Records’; an Urban Mobility company ‘BOLT’, a shaving company Champion Shave, an insole company Enertor; the ‘Usain Bolt Foundation’ and he is an ambassador for some of the top brands in the world.
Bolt was born on 21 August 1986 in Sherwood Content, Jamaica. He grew up as a kid who was obsessed with sports, excelling in football and cricket. At high school, his cricket coach encouraged him to try athletics seriously. It was a good decision, as we all realised.
