It is been 13 years considering that Usain Bolt set the men’s 100m and 200m globe records at the 2009 Globe Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany.
Considering that then, the instances of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds have been out of attain of each and every sprinter who has attempted to get close to them, with the terrific Jamaican going on to attain mythical status inside the sport of athletics.
Having said that, with final year’s Globe Athletics Championships seeing USA sweeps in each of the sprint distances, the American group are in hot kind and hankering for the sort of instances that would see them challenge and possibly even surpass the sprint globe records that have stood for effectively more than a decade.
As opposed to in the time of Bolt who flourished more than 100m and 200m, the US sprint group has much more specialists in their ranks, with the likes of Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell creating the 100m distance their personal, and Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton and Michael Norman excelling more than the half-lap race.
But just how close are these speedy Americans to the instances of Bolt? And which of them has the greatest opportunity of breaking his globe records? Uncover out every little thing you want to know under.
The race for the 100m globe record: How do today’s US sprinters stack up against Usain Bolt?
Even though Bolt occupies the top rated 3 locations on the list of quickest-ever 100m instances, 3 present American sprinters sit joint 15th on the list with instances of 9.76 seconds – Fred Kerley, Trayvon Bromell and Christian Coleman.
With several marks in the top rated 15 set by the similar athletes, these 3 Americans are the joint-sixth quickest males to have ever raced the blue ribband sprint occasion.
Bolt has set 3 instances below 9.70 seconds, with 9.58, 9.63 and 9.69. The only other males to have dipped across the line in sub-9.70 are Tyson Gay of the USA and Yohan Blake of Jamaica in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
The quickest instances of Kerley, Coleman and Bromell are all on par with Bolt’s fifth-quickest mark in the occasion, leaving them .18 seconds away from the globe record.
Having said that, when it may perhaps look like there’s a mountain to climb for any of them to attain 9.58, it is the kind of Kerley that is most impressive a year out from the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Each a single of the reigning globe champion’s top rated ten instances have been set considering that 2021 – the year in which he switched from the 400m to the shorter sprinting distances.
3 of his instances would also have produced it into Bolt’s top rated ten, compared to two of his teammate Bromell’s.
Kerley is also bullish about his possibilities of breaking the globe record, telling The Independent: “It’s quite realistic. Every little thing is realistic Bolt, Wayde [Van Niekerk], and all of the American greats. They place the bar up there for us to do it.”
In comparison to Kerley, Bromell has been in the game for considerably longer, but his races are only acquiring more quickly.
Even though he set his fifth-quickest time back in 2015, his top rated 4 instances have all been considering that 2021.
No matter whether either of these two can close on Bolt remains to be observed. But a single thing’s for certain, the US 100m group is close to as robust as ever.
The most important American challengers for Usain Bolt’s 200m globe record
If the men’s 100m landscape is dominated by Group USA, the present crop of 200m runners are about as thrilling as it gets.
Just final year, 25-year-old Noah Lyles set the fourth-quickest time in history, with the new American record of 19.31 just .12 seconds off Bolt’s quickest time of 19.19.
With the Jamaican occupying two of the top rated 4 spots on the all-time list, this mark also tends to make Lyles the third-quickest 200m runner ever.
The fifth-quickest 200m runner in history (with the 10th-quickest time) is none other than Erriyon Knighton, who at 19 years old is nonetheless racing in the junior categories.
Even though the 19.49 Knighton ran in early 2022 has not but been ratified, he has currently broken the below-18 and below-20 globe records in the 200m, each of which belonged to Usain Bolt.
Lyles has eight instances that would have produced it into Bolt’s top rated ten, with seven of these set in considering that 2021.
Added to this, each Lyles and Knighton have now medalled on the globe stage, with two Globe Championship golds for the former (Doha 2019, Oregon 2022) and a single bronze for his young rival (Oregon 2022).
Lyles even expressed his disappointment at not breaking Bolt’s quickest 200m time at final year’s Globe Championships final, saying: “I was operating to break the globe record, so if something you could say I was a small disappointed,” when Knighton told Olympics.com confidently that he believes “sub-19” is in his future.
Having said that, there is a further talented athlete who could also enter the conversation, even even though he is far better recognized suitable now as a 400m specialist: Michael Norman.
At 25 years old, Norman is the similar age as Lyles, and his record across the sprint distances is impressive.
A single of only 3 males to have posted a sub ten-second 100m, sub 20-second 200m and sub 44-second 400m, Norman has a PB of 19.70 more than the half-lap distance.
Ought to he, like Kerley just before him, make a decision to concentrate completely on the shorter sprints, the reigning 400m globe champion has the speed to challenge the finest in the globe these days.