The race for Usain Bolt’s globe records. How do Fred Kerley, Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton & Co. examine to the excellent Jamaican?

It is been 13 years considering that Usain Bolt set the men’s 100m and 200m globe records at the 2009 Planet Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany.

Considering the fact that then, the instances of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds have been out of attain of each sprinter who has attempted to get close to them, with the excellent Jamaican going on to attain mythical status inside the sport of athletics.

Having said that, with final year’s Planet Athletics Championships seeing USA sweeps in each of the sprint distances, the American group are in hot type and hankering for the sort of instances that would see them challenge and possibly even surpass the sprint globe records that have stood for nicely more than a decade.

In contrast to in the time of Bolt who flourished more than 100m and 200m, the US sprint group has a lot more specialists in their ranks, with the likes of Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell creating the 100m distance their personal, and Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton and Michael Norman excelling more than the half-lap race.

But just how close are these fast Americans to the instances of Bolt? And which of them has the greatest opportunity of breaking his globe records? Discover out all the things you will need to know under.

The race for the 100m globe record: How do today’s US sprinters stack up against Usain Bolt?

Although Bolt occupies the top rated 3 areas on the list of quickest-ever 100m instances, 3 existing American sprinters sit joint 15th on the list with instances of 9.76 seconds – Fred Kerley, Trayvon Bromell and Christian Coleman.

With numerous marks in the top rated 15 set by the exact same athletes, these 3 Americans are the joint-sixth quickest males to have ever raced the blue ribband sprint occasion.

Bolt has set 3 instances below 9.70 seconds, with 9.58, 9.63 and 9.69. The only other males to have dipped across the line in sub-9.70 are Tyson Gay of the USA and Yohan Blake of Jamaica in 2009 and 2012, respectively.

The quickest instances of Kerley, Coleman and Bromell are all on par with Bolt’s fifth-quickest mark in the occasion, leaving them .18 seconds away from the globe record.

Having said that, whilst it may possibly appear like there’s a mountain to climb for any of them to attain 9.58, it is the type of Kerley that is most impressive a year out from the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Each and every a single of the reigning globe champion’s top rated ten instances have been set considering that 2021 – the year in which he switched from the 400m to the shorter sprinting distances.

3 of his instances would also have created it into Bolt’s top rated ten, compared to two of his teammate Bromell’s.

Kerley is also bullish about his possibilities of breaking the globe record, telling The Independent: “It’s really realistic. Every thing is realistic Bolt, Wayde [Van Niekerk], and all of the American greats. They place the bar up there for us to do it.”

In comparison to Kerley, Bromell has been in the game for a great deal longer, however his races are only receiving more rapidly.

Although he set his fifth-quickest time back in 2015, his top rated 4 instances have all been considering that 2021.

Regardless of whether either of these two can close on Bolt remains to be noticed. But a single thing’s for certain, the US 100m group is close to as robust as ever.

The most important American challengers for Usain Bolt’s 200m globe record

If the men’s 100m landscape is dominated by Group USA, the existing crop of 200m runners are about as thrilling as it gets.

Just final year, 25-year-old Noah Lyles set the fourth-quickest time in history, with the new American record of 19.31 just .12 seconds off Bolt’s quickest time of 19.19.

With the Jamaican occupying two of the top rated 4 spots on the all-time list, this mark also tends to make Lyles the third-quickest 200m runner ever.

The fifth-quickest 200m runner in history (with the 10th-quickest time) is none other than Erriyon Knighton, who at 19 years old is nevertheless racing in the junior categories.

Although the 19.49 Knighton ran in early 2022 has not however been ratified, he has currently broken the below-18 and below-20 globe records in the 200m, each of which belonged to Usain Bolt.

Lyles has eight instances that would have created it into Bolt’s top rated ten, with seven of these set in considering that 2021.

Added to this, each Lyles and Knighton have now medalled on the globe stage, with two Planet Championship golds for the former (Doha 2019, Oregon 2022) and a single bronze for his young rival (Oregon 2022).

Lyles even expressed his disappointment at not breaking Bolt’s quickest 200m time at final year’s Planet Championships final, saying: “I was operating to break the globe record, so if something you could say I was a tiny disappointed,” whilst Knighton told Olympics.com confidently that he believes “sub-19” is in his future.

Having said that, there is one more talented athlete who could also enter the conversation, even even though he is far better identified ideal now as a 400m specialist: Michael Norman.

At 25 years old, Norman is the exact same age as Lyles, and his record across the sprint distances is impressive.

A single of only 3 males to have posted a sub ten-second 100m, sub 20-second 200m and sub 44-second 400m, Norman has a PB of 19.70 more than the half-lap distance.

Ought to he, like Kerley prior to him, make a decision to concentrate totally on the shorter sprints, the reigning 400m globe champion has the speed to challenge the greatest in the globe now.