Usain Bolt of Jamaica is the greatest "short" sprinter of all time after shattering the world records in the 100m and 200m dashes. He has broken the 100m record 3 times. 9.72 in May of 2008, 9.69 in August of 2008 and 9.58 in August of 2009. He has broken the 200m record twice 19.30 in August of 2008 and 19.19 in August of 2009. He is the only man to win Olympic gold while setting world records in both sprints at the same Olympics. He's the first man to run under 9.70 and 9.60 in the 100m dash, and the only person to break 19.30 in the 200m dash with his world record performance of 19.19. Usain Bolt is the World Junior Record holder in the 200m dash with a time of 19.97. Bolt is the modern version of Tommie Smith, a combination of abnormal stride length at 6'5 and the stride frequency of a much shorter world class sprinter. Bolt is able to accelerate faster than his competition and his top end speed is unmatched, thus causing him to be the most dominant sprinter of all time. His nearest rival, Tyson Gay is arguable the 2nd greatest sprinter of all time with personal records of 9.69 for 100m and 19.41 a world record for the straight 200m, and a natural 200m personal best of 19.58. Gay has lost to Bolt in the 2009 World Championship 100m final when Bolt set the current world record of 9.58, Gay was a distant 2nd in 9.70, the 3rd fastest time of all time and just .01 off the previous world record set by Bolt in 2008 in the Summer Olympics in Bejing, China.
Michael Johnson is the greatest long sprinter ever, during his career he held the 200m and 400m world record, while also holding the seldom ran 300m world record. Using a non-traditional running style Michael was a unique blend of world class speed and world class speed endurance. He frequently ran under 20 seconds in 200m dashes while his competition found it difficult to break 20 seconds. Michael was known in the 200 for running an extremely aggressive turn and because of his 400m speed endurance, he decelerated at a much slower rate than his competitors, which made him very difficult to beat for 200m. In 1996 Michael broke the 200m world record twice, first in the Olympic Trials 200m final, Michael ran 19.66 to best Pietro Minnea's former world record of 19.72. In the semi finals of the Olympic Trials, Michael ran 19.70 but it was over the allowable 2.0 mps wind for record purposes. Later in 1996 in the Olympic Games 200m final, Michael ran a 200m dash for the ages in which he split 10.12 oin his first 100m and 9.20 in his second for a world record time of 19.32, breaking his previous world record by .34 seconds, the largest drop in the 200m dash world record since its been recorded. Michael won 2 world championship gold medals, 1991 and 1995, 1 Olympic Gold medal 1996.The 400m was Michael's best event. H's run under 44 seconds more often than any other man before or after him. He won 2 Olympic Gold medals in 1996 and 2000, he's won 4 world championships 1993, 1995,1997 and 1999. He is the current world record holder in the 400m dash in 43.18. He was the most dominant 400 meter runner ever, frequently championship finals by nearly a second ahead of his competition. His greatest achievements on the track are in 1995 and in 1996 in which he won both the 200m and 400m world titles and Olympic titles, no one in the history of Track and Field can claim to have placed in both events in a major championship let alone won them both in the sports major championship meets. Michael Johnson will forever be known as the standard bearer for long sprinting.
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The men's world records have been improved 12 times since the first world record. The one who holds the 100 meter title now is Usain Bolt of Jamacia. The woman who holds the 100 meter title is Florence Griffith-Joyner of the U.S.A
Usain Bolt, a Jamaican runner, holds the world record for the fastest 100m sprint. He ran the 100m sprint in 9.58 seconds on August 16, 2009 in Berlin.