“Still the bolt era” - Usain Bolt takes joy in his 100m and 200m world records remaining intact after World Athletics Championships 2023
Legendary athlete Usain Bolt celebrated the dominance of his unbeatable records after the conclusion of the 200m race at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. On day 8 of the ongoing world championship, the retired athlete shared a social media update reminding the world that his records stand unbeaten even today and that it is still his ‘era’.
Before the world championship, the sports world anticipated that many of Bolt’s records would be shattered by new-age athletes like Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, and many others. However, none could come close to his world records.
In the men’s 100m race, American favorite Noah Lyles won the gold medal, clocking an impressive personal best of 9.83s. However, it could not beat the retired Jamaican athlete’s 9.58s from the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin.
Another unbeatable record of ‘Lighting Bolt’ that remained unbeatable in this year’s world championship is his 200m timeframe of 19.19s, also from the 2009 IAAF World Championships. Noah Lyles claimed another gold at the 200m race with a time-record of 19.52s.
Moreover, Bolt also boasts a 37.04s world record in the 4x100m relay event from the 2011 World Athletics Championships with his team Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, and Yohan Blake. Even though the US team won the event this year, they recorded 37.38s.
As none of these time records were broken, the 2017 retired Usain Bolt still has his name in the world record books. Celebrating his dominance, the 37-year-old posted a story on his Instagram story.
“Still the bolt era,” Bolt wrote.
Athletes on breaking Usain Bolt’s world records
Prior to the 2023 World Athletics Championships, athletes like Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley expressed their views on breaking Bolt’s records.
Six-time world championship gold medalist Noah Lyles had his eyes set on breaking Usain Bolt’s record before this year’s world championship. A week before the event, Lyles declared in an Instagram post that he aims to record 19.10s in the 200m and 9.65s in 100m.
Although he could not triumph in his aim, after winning the 100m race with 9.83s timing at the recent world championship, he continued to believe that he would break Bolt’s record. Lyles told reporters after winning the 100m race:
“In my head, I think I’m going to break it, but everybody else has their own opinions,” said Lyles.
Similarly, Fred Kerley, who became the sixth fastest man in the world with a 9.76s record at the 2022 World Championship semi-finals, believes that breaking Bolt’s records was realistic. He told Olympis.com in an interview:
"He put the bar up there for us to go and attack it. He’s got the bar, we’re just trying to get there," expressed Fred Kerley.