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Speed, pace, swiftness; call whatever you want, this characteristic of moving from one place to the other in the most rapid way has always been alluring to humans. Whether it is the fastest car or high-speed technology, it has always fascinated the entire humankind. In this blog, we will look at the fastest athletes in the world of all time.
In the sporting context, speed is extremely crucial and the majority of the games are based on speed which helps you to beat the opponent in some way or another. However, you cannot generalize that higher speed will only benefit the player. A batter can use the pace of the ball to guide the ball to the third-man boundary or a forward in football could find himself easily trapped in an offside position. But in most of the athletic and track and field events, the mantra is higher the speed, the better will be the results. In this article, we will look at the fastest athletes in the world. We will consider a 100-meter event for our listing.
Top 10 All-time Fastest Athletes in the World
| Rank | Athlete |
| 1. | Usain Bolt |
| 2. | Tyson Gay & Yohan Blake |
| 3. | Asafa Powell |
| 4. | Justin Gatlin |
| 5. | Christian Coleman |
| 6. | Ferdinand Omanyala |
| 7. | Nesta Carter |
| 8. | Maurice Greene |
| 9. | Steve Mulling |
| 10. | Richard Thompson |
Usain Bolt | Fastest Man in the World
Usain Bolt! This was perhaps the easy pick for you and why not it would be? He is a superstar and made havoc when he clocked the famous ‘nine five eight’. The time of 9.58 seconds is the world record for any 100-meter race. This Jamaican athlete is loved by everyone and got the name ‘Lightning Bolt’. He is the world record holder in 200 meters, and 4 × 100 meters relay along with the celebrated 100-meter dash.
Tyson Gay | Fastest runners in the world
Tyson Gay ranks at number 2 in the list of fastest athletes in the world. He is American by nationality. During the 2007 Osaka World Championships, he won the 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 m relay. This feat made him the only second man to do so. Yes, Usain Bolt did the same thing twice after Tyson, but that doesn’t diminish the legacy of Tyson Gay. Tyson clocked 9.69 seconds at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix 2009 making him the 2nd fastest man on this planet.
Yohan Blake | Fastest Athletes in the World
Blake ranks as the second-fastest sprinter globally in both the 100m and 200m categories. Alongside Tyson Gay, he shares the joint second-fastest time ever recorded in the 100m, clocking a remarkable 9.69 seconds on August 23, 2012. He is a Jamaican sprinter specializes in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint disciplines. He achieved gold in the 100m event at the 2011 World Athletics Championships, becoming the youngest 100m world champion ever. Additionally, he secured silver medals in both the 100m and 200m races for the Jamaican team during the 2012 Olympic Games in London, finishing behind Usain Bolt.
Asafa Powell | Fastest athletes in the world
Asafa Powell is the 3rd fastest runner in the history of the human race. This Jamaican runner recorded 9.72 during the 100-meter sprint at Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland. In total, this man from Jamaica won 10 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronze medals across competitions and various games of track and field events.
Justin Gatlin | Fastest runners in the world
Justin Gatlin was a famous athlete from the US who competed in 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He holds the world record of being the 4th fastest runner in the history of sporting events. On May 15, 2015, Gatlin took only 9.74 seconds at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix to become the 4th fastest runner. In 2022, he announced his retirement.
Christian Coleman | Fastest athletes in the world
Christian Coleman is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. The man is 5th fastest sportsperson as he clocked 9.76 seconds during the 100-meter race at World Championships in Doha. Sadly, a ban was imposed on him as he missed a drug test. This ban made him miss the 2022 Tokyo Olympics.
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Ferdinand Omanyala | Fastest runners
Among many Americans and Jamaicans, we have an athlete from Kenya, Ferdinand Omanyala as the 6th fastest runner. Omanyala is the African record holder and the sixth-fastest man of all time in the event of 100 meters after clocking a time of 9.77 seconds on 18 September 2021 in Nairobi. The man is also a Kenyan record holder in the 60-meter race. This 27-year-old athlete has won 3 gold medals across the 6 major competitions to date.
Nesta Carter | Fastest athletes in the world
Nesta Carter is a Jamaican athlete who specialized in the 100-meter event. He was an excellent runner. Nesta is the 7th fastest runner in the history of sports as far as 100-meter events are concerned. Nesta clocked 9.78 at Rieti, Italy. Carter announced his retirement on 31st August 2021.
Maurice Greene | Fastest runners in the world
Maurice Greene is at number 8 on the list of fastest athletes in the world for a 100-meter race. Along with 100-meter races, Maurice Greene also competed in 60-meter and 200-meter races. His run of 9.79 seconds in 1999 made him the fastest runner at that time. The previous IAAF logo was created in Greene’s image. That kind of impact he has had on the game.
Steve Mullings | Fastest athletes in the world
We have another Jamaican athlete on this list and his name is Steve Mullings. With the timing of 9.80, Steve became the 9th fastest man in the history of sporting events. Well, the year 2011 was a mixed bag for him as he tested positive for the drug Furosemide, a masking agent. On 22 November 2011, the Jamaican Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel handed him a lifetime ban from athletics.
Richard Thompson | Fastest Runners
Richard Thompson founds himself at number 10 on the list of fastest runners in the history of humankind. Richard belongs to Trinidad and Tobago. During the 2014 Trinidad and Tobago national championships, the man clocked 9.82 seconds. This performance made him the 10th fastest runner of all time in the 100-meter events.
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FAQ
Usain Bolt, a Jamaican athlete is considered as fastest man in the world. He set the world record in the 100-meter sprint at 9.58 seconds. This Jamaican athlete is loved by everyone and got the name ‘Lightning Bolt’.
Amlan Borgohain is known as the fastest man in India. He is an Indian track and field athlete and holds the Indian national record for 100 meters and 200 meters.
Amlan Borgohain
Dutee Chand
Rachita Panda
Gurindervir Singh
Hima Das
Amiya Kumar Mallick
Usain Bolt born on 21 August 1986 in Sherwood Content, Jamaica.
Noah Lyles is an American professional track and field sprinter and one of the fastest athletes in the world. In August 2023, during the World Athletics Championships, Lyles won gold in the 100m, setting a personal best of 9.83.
