In the main event of the World Athletics Championship, Usain Bolt ran the 100-meter race in 9.58 seconds, beating his own world record.
The 16th of August 2009 is a very important date in the history of World Athletics. Today, 13 years ago, Usain Bolt broke his own world record by running 100 meters in 9.58 seconds in the final of the World Athletics Championship. He easily beat his previous best time of 9.69 seconds, which he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which shocked everyone in Berlin.
Bolt’s main competitors, Tyson Gay of the United States and Asafa Powell of Jamaica, came in second and third, respectively. They quickly gave up on beating Bolt because the Olympic winner blew them all out of the water.
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Bolt won the semi-final the day before, but it looked like he was trying to save energy for a strong showing in the final. As long as that was his plan, it worked out great. Even there, he made a false start, which meant that anyone else who did the same thing in the future would be disqualified automatically. English sprinter Tyrone Edgar was the unlucky one, and he said he felt bad about missing out. Bolt didn’t care about the delays and jumped right into the race. He then slowed down and reached a time of 9.89 seconds.
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Bolt rushed forward at the start of the final and took charge after only 30 meters, which showed that the competition could lead to something amazing. That moment had to come soon for Bolt to break the record.
Bolt made the famous “to the world” pose as he sped past the finish line at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. The crowd went crazy.
Tyson Gay’s only comfort was that his 9.71-second run beat the American record of 9.77 seconds. Dwain Chambers, another American, came in sixth with a season-best time of 10.00 seconds. Powell, who is on Bolt’s team, won third place after finishing the race in 9.84 seconds.
