Usain Bolt: One baffling sprinting record the Jamaican never attempted to break

Usain Bolt: One baffling sprinting record the Jamaican never attempted to break

Evans Ousuru 17:59 - 24.03.2025

Usain Bolt never ran the shortest sprints but could he have won if he gave it an attempt?

The world  witnessed the fastest man alive Usain Bolt break records in his career that last over a decade.

The Jamaican, whose records in 100m and 200m races still stand eight years after he hung up his spikes, was a track and field king during his time.

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While he also secured gold medals in the 4x100m relays, Usain Bolt must be cursing why he never attempted to race in the shortest version of sprints. The 38-year-old never ran in the 60m sprint, despite his 2009 heroics.

Three-time Olympic 100m champion Bolt,  alongside the 100m women's world record holder, Florence Griffith-Joyner, equally never stepped on the shortened track to put her skills to the test.

It is easy to understand why  the 11-time World champion never wanted to be associated with 60m sprints because Bolt was notoriously slow off the blocks but was good at finishing. The 60m race requires quick reaction from the blocks.

Scientists believed that it was because of his huge 6ft5in frame, which made it tough for him to get up to full speed. The current 60m world record is held by USA track star Christian Coleman. He obliterated the time in 2018 when he set a mark of 6.34 seconds.

Prior to the American's record, Maurice Greene's record of 6.39 seconds had stood since 1998. So could Usain Bolt have broken the 60m world record, technically yes.

Bolt broke the 100m world record in 2008 with a truly astonishing time of 9.58 seconds. Splits from that race at the World Championships reveal he ran the first 60m in 6.31 seconds, faster than Coleman's current time. That could have been even quicker too.

Although that is not even the fastest 60m split time ever recorded. That goes to Chinese athlete Su Bingtian who ran the first 60m of a race in the Tokyo Olympics at 6.29 seconds.

These vevelations and comparisons have been brought to light by talkSPORT after the 2025 three-day World Indoor Championships ended on Sunday.

Great Britain's Jeremiah Azu took home the gold in the 60m. The Welshman equalled his personal best time of 6.49 seconds to narrowly edge out Australian rival Lachlan Kennedy.

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