Photo credit: Getty Image
See Video on Home Page of Superman Usain Bolt in 100 Meters in Beijing
One year to the day that he stunned the world at the Beijing Olympics, Jamaica`s sprint phenomenon has done it again to keep a strong hold on the title of world`s fastest man.
Usain `Lightning` Bolt shattered his own 100-m World record of 9.69 yesterday in Berlin to set a new record of 9.58 on the second evening of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
Bolt left America`s Tyson Gay in his `dust` to knock 0.11 second from the 9.69 record he set at the Olympic Games in Beijing exactly one year ago yesterday.
`I was definitely ready for the World record and I did it,` Bolt said after the match. `I didn`t think I could run a tenth (of a second) faster than my World record, but for me, anything is possible.`
And not only did the 22-year-old make history again but the performance was the largest chunk ever to be sliced from the 100-m World record.
Previously, both he and Maurice Greene shaved 0.05 from the standard to earn the moniker of World`s Fastest Man.
Gay managed to clock 9.71 in second, a national record, that was just 0.02 shy of the previous World mark. Jamaica`s Asafa Powell was third.
Bolt, despite a slow start out of the block as has become a norm in recent games, nonetheless took control some 30 meters into the race and continued onward to forge through to the record breaking win and a $100,000 world record bonus.
Jamaica`s Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, was quick to congratulate Bolt and Powell Sunday. The PM spoke with both athletes as well as their parents via telephone shortly after their victory, a government statement said last night.
`This is another proud moment for Jamaica, another demonstration that we can succeed at whatever we put our hearts to,` Golding was quoted as saying. `Usain Bolt is a testimony to what successes we can achieve through discipline and hard work. Asafa is no less as he too, despite his injuries , has done exceptionally well. Bolt`s world record victory of 9.58 has made us all proud and we look forward to welcoming them home to celebrate their victory coming just one year after our success in the Olympics.`
