Usain Bolt claims he would have beaten his long-standing 100m world record if he could have run in the carbon-plated “super spikes” worn by today’s sprinters.
The Jamaican sprinting icon, who won eight Olympic gold medals before he retired in 2017, is the fastest man to ever run the 100m after finishing in 9.58 seconds at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.
The record has stood for 16 years, with the closest efforts coming from American sprinter Tyson Gay and Jamaican runner Yohan Blake, who both completed the distance in 9.69 seconds in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
Now, research by sportswear company Puma has claimed Bolt, 39, would have ran the 100m in 9.42 seconds if he was wearing the kind of footwear available to athletes today.
Asked about the findings at a Puma event ahead of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Bolt said on Thursday: “I fully agree.”
He continued: “Someone who continued after I retired was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and I saw what she did – she got faster with the spikes.
“I probably would have run way faster if I’d continued and if I knew that spikes would have got to that level maybe I would have, because it would have been great to compete at that level and running that fast.”
Bolt’s compatriot Kishane Thompson ran 100m in 9.75 seconds at the Jamaican championships in June – the fastest time by anyone for 10 years.
However, Bolt said he is not worried about anyone breaking his record anytime soon.
He said: “I think the talent is there and those who are coming up will do well but, at this present moment, I don’t think they will be able to break the world record.”
Tokyo will be the first global athletics event Bolt has attended since his farewell at the World Athletics Championships in London in 2017.
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Bolt at the news conference in Tokyo. Pic: AP
How does carbon fibre cause a spike in performance?
Carbon fibre first began to feature in running shoes when Nike introduced the Vaporfly in 2017, according to the online store TrackSpikes.
Shoes with carbon-plated spikes, often referred to as “super spikes”, also have a carbon-fibre plate embedded in the midsole, which is usually placed between two layers of foam.
This makes them more comfortable than the traditional shoes worn by sprinters for decades, which typically have a rubber or plastic outsole and metal spikes.
The carbon-fibre plates also provide a spring-like effect with each stride – helping sprinters to run faster, according to TrackSpikes.
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