Usain Bolt believes he could have run the 100m even faster than 9.58 seconds if he had access to 'super spikes' during his career.
It has been 15 years since the Jamaican rocked athletics at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, when he completed the 100m and 200m sprints in world record times of 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds respectively.
Nobody has come close since that day in Berlin. A year later, America's Tyson Gay ran the 100m in 9.69 seconds, making him the second-fastest man in the world.
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But at the time of writing, Kishane Thompson has recorded the fastest 100m sprint in 2024 at 9.77 seconds – a time that, quite frankly, pales in comparison to Bolt's world record.
Whether a sprinter will come along and break Bolt's record remains to be seen but back in 2021, the man himself said he wasn't concerned about anyone smashing his 100m and 200m world records.
That being said, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist has previously admitted to being 'uneasy' about highly responsive shoe technology that has improved performance.
Speaking in an interview with The Guardian in 2021, Bolt opened up on 'super spikes' shoes.
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“Me and a friend were talking about this the other day,” he said. “And I was like, ‘should I be upset?’ Because I know over the years everyone has tried to make spikes different and better but..."
Bolt added: "How can I argue if World Athletics decide that it’s legal? I can’t do anything about it. The rules are the rules. I don’t think I’ll be fully happy, but it’s just one of those things.”
The Jamaican claims he would have "definitely" run below 9.5 seconds if had access to that shoe technology during his career.
“We have guessed and we have talked about it, but I don’t know for sure,” he added. “But definitely much faster. Below 9.5 seconds for sure. Without a doubt.”
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Bolt has previously branded the advances in spike technology as "unfair" and "laughable".
“When I was told about it I couldn’t believe that this is what we have gone to, you know what I mean? That we are really adjusting the spikes to a level where it’s now giving athletes an advantage to run even faster,” Bolt told Reuters in 2021.
“It’s weird and unfair for a lot of athletes because I know that in the past they [shoe companies] actually tried and the governing body said ‘no, you can’t change the spikes’, so to know that now they are actually doing it, it’s laughable.”
Jack Kenmare