Zharnel Hughes recently broke Linford Christie’s long-standing British record but still has a way to go to be on the list of the fastest men’s 100 metres of all time.
Hughes, who won 100m silver at the 2022 European Championships, clocked 9.83 seconds at the New York City Grand Prix in June to beat Christie’s record (9.87) which had stood since the 1993 Stuttgart World Championships.
That makes Hughes the joint-15th fastest sprinter ever as we recall the top five men in athletics’ blue-riband event.
Usain Bolt 9.58 seconds – Berlin, August 16, 2009
All 10 athletes in the World Championship final in Berlin had run under 10 seconds and the three fastest men’s 100 metres stars at the time – Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell – were side by side in the middle lanes. However, any hope of a close race was blown out of the water when Bolt made an unusually good start and the Jamaican stormed to victory in a new 100m world record of 9.58 seconds, lowering his own mark of 9.69secs set a year earlier in the Beijing Olympics.
Tyson Gay 9.69 seconds – Shanghai, September 20, 2009
Five weeks after clocking 9.71secs in finishing second behind Bolt in Beijing, Gay lowered his national record to 9.69s at the Shanghai Grand Prix. The American was slow out of the blocks but recovered to surge ahead of Asafa Powell, who finished second in 9.85s. American Darvis Patton was third with a time of 9.89s.
Yohan Blake 9.69 seconds – Lausanne, August 23, 2012
Bolt was upstaged by training partner Yohan Blake at the Diamond League meeting, the young pretender becoming the joint second-fastest man in history as he won the 100 metres in 9.69s – into a fractional headwind – shortly before Bolt clocked 19.58s over 200m. “I could tell Yohan would run fast, I’ve seen him in training,” Bolt said. “I predicted 9.72, but he went a little bit faster.”
Asafa Powell 9.72 seconds – Lausanne, September 2, 2008
Former world record holder Powell matched what was then the world’s second-fastest time with a dazzling 9.72s at the IAAF Super Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne. Powell powered clear of Walter Dix and Nesta Carter, who finished in 9.92s and 9.98s respectively. “Maybe I’m just not a guy for those championships,” said Powell, who had been a disappointing fifth in the Olympic final a few weeks earlier.
Justin Gatlin 9.74 seconds – Doha, May 15, 2015
Gatlin continued to defy his advancing years as he ran a personal best and set a world-leading time of 9.74s at the IAAF Diamond League meet in Doha. The 33-year-old, who returned to the sport in 2010 after a four-year drugs ban, edged out compatriot Michael Rodgers, with Keston Bledman third.
**Bolt has also run 9.63, 9.69 and 9.72
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