17 Years Ago Today, Usain Bolt Set a Record the World's Fastest Men Still Can't Touch

Seventeen years ago, Usain Bolt covered 200 meters faster than any human before or since. On Aug. 20, 2009, the Jamaican sprinter crossed the line at the World Championships in Berlin in 19.19 seconds, lowering his own world record by 0.11 seconds.

The remarkable part today isn’t simply how fast Bolt ran. It’s that after 17 years of advances in training, track surfaces and sprint talent, nobody has gotten within 0.07 seconds of him. World Athletics’ all-time rankings still list Bolt’s 19.19 as the men’s 200-meter world record, followed by Yohan Blake’s 19.26 and Noah Lyles’ 19.31.

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Bolt Didn’t Expect 19.19 Either

Bolt arrived in Berlin already holding the record at 19.30, set exactly one year earlier at the Beijing Olympics. His preparation hadn’t been perfect, either. A foot injury following an April car accident had limited his ability to train on the curve, Bolt told World Athletics.

Then he ran into a slight 0.3-meter-per-second headwind—and destroyed the record anyway. “I don’t know what is the limit for 200m,” Bolt said afterward. “Anything is possible.”

Even he struggled to process the number on the clock. “I doubt people thought I would run 19.19,” Bolt said. “I didn’t think I would run 19.19.”

World Athletics’ original race report captured Bolt’s assessment after his victory lap: “It wasn’t a good race, but it was a fast one.”

The Fastest Sprinters Since Bolt Still Haven’t Reached Him

The performance looks even stranger in hindsight. Bolt won by 0.62 seconds, with Alonso Edward second in 19.81 and Wallace Spearmon third in 19.85. Five men broke 20 seconds in the race, a first at the time.

Others have moved closer since. Blake ran 19.26 in 2011. Lyles ran 19.31 at the 2022 World Championships, breaking Michael Johnson’s American record. “I was true in form for a world record, but I am OK with the American record,” he told World Athletics.

Bolt’s 19.19 remains untouched.

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