It has been eight years since Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt last showcased his lightning-fast speed on the track at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London. Yet, at 38 years old, he still finds himself reflecting on just how fast he could have run at his peak.
Last week, Bolt appeared on the Jamaican podcast titled The Fix, where he discussed a range of topics—including the untapped potential of his prime years. When the 100m world record holder was asked how fast he could have run, Bolt said that if he hadn’t been hampered by injuries in 2011, he believed he could have lowered his record further.
“That year, I was floating,” Bolt said. “I was running very well, and my coach [Glen Mills] was excited. It was the first time I heard him say, ‘We’re going to race and break the world record.’”
Bolt’s 2011 season is often remembered for his false start in the 100m final at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, and his loss to teammate Yohan Blake. It is important to note that Bolt had only raced the 100m three times that year leading up to the event, battling multiple injuries along the way.
Two years earlier, at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Bolt had electrified the track and field world by running 9.58 seconds in the men’s 100m final—a record that still stands today. No one has come even close in recent years, with Americans Trayvon Bromell and Fred Kerley being the fastest men of the last decade at 9.76 seconds.
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When asked whether he believes anyone will break his record in his lifetime, Bolt remained open-minded but realistic: “Anything is possible. Track and field is evolving fast with the new spikes, and everything changes,” he said. “It’ll take some work, but records are records.”
