Usain Bolt retires: Here’s how 100 metres world record progressed over the years

New Delhi: Usain Bolt is the big man in the spotlight as he prepares for his last hurrah at the World Athletics Championships in London. We felt it was a good time to dissect how the 100 metres world record has progressed over the years.

It really is the showpiece, is the 100 metres sprinting, in the entire puzzle that track and field can be. And no man has run faster than Usain Bolt. Here is a lowdown on the key moments in the progression of one of the most amazing records in sport.

-Luther Cary (United States) 10.8 seconds on July 4, 1891 in Paris, France: The American athlete is almost an unknown figure in the history of track and field, forgotten presumably because more than a century has rolled on.

But his achievement is the first recorded moment in the listicle of the men’s 100 metres world record progression and this is even before the International Association of Athletics Federations started ratifying records.

-Donald Lippincott (United States) 10.6 seconds on July 6, 1912 in Stockholm, Sweden: The Philadelphia-born athlete holds the record of being the first man to have the world record noted when it was given sanction by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

-Bob Hayes (United States) 10.06 seconds on October 15, 1964 in Tokyo, Japan: This was an important moment as it was the first time that the record was noted when electronically timed.

Although the exact record was only known post 1977 when manual records ceased to exist. At the time of the actual record, this was noted to be 10.0 seconds. 

-Jim Hines (United States) 9.95 seconds on October 14, 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico: Again at the time of manual recording, it was slightly different, it was 9.9 seconds.

But when one looked at the electronic recording post 1977, it was the first time that 100 metres was done under 10 seconds.

The Finale. Let's do this. #London2017 pic.twitter.com/9joLmLXrve

— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) August 4, 2017

-Usain Bolt (Jamaica) 9.58 seconds on August 16, 2009 in Berlin, Germany: The greatest sprinter of all-time, this man has set the record three times and his best effort (the last of the three records), which was 9.572 seconds to be absolutely precise, is also the current world record.