Sports

List of Fastest Humans in the 100m Sprint

A ranked list of the fastest 100-meter sprint times in human history, featuring the greatest sprinters ever.

10 itemsUpdated Mar 14, 2026

The 100-meter sprint is the blue-ribbon event of athletics, determining the fastest human alive. Usain Bolt's 9.58-second world record, set at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, remains one of the most iconic moments in sports history. The event has been dominated by Jamaican and American sprinters, with Bolt's legacy casting a long shadow over the next generation of sprinters.

#	Name	Set	Time	Country	Olympic Golds
1	Usain Bolt Jamaica Bolt holds the world record at 9.58 seconds, set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. He won 8 Olympic golds.	2009 Berlin World Championships	9.58s	Jamaica	8
2	Tyson Gay USA Gay ran 9.69 seconds in 2009, making him the second-fastest American sprinter in history.	2009 Shanghai Grand Prix	9.69s	USA	0
3	Yohan Blake Jamaica Blake ran 9.69 seconds, sharing the second-fastest time ever. He was Bolt's training partner and 2011 World Champion.	2012 Lausanne	9.69s	Jamaica	1
4	Asafa Powell Jamaica Powell held the world record twice before Bolt and ran a personal best of 9.72 seconds.	2008 Lausanne	9.72s	Jamaica	1
5	Noah Lyles USA Lyles won the 2024 Olympic 100m gold and the 2023 World Championship, becoming the face of modern sprinting.	2023 World Championships Budapest	9.79s	USA	1
6	Justin Gatlin USA Gatlin ran 9.74 seconds and remained competitive into his late 30s, winning the 2017 World Championship 100m.	2015 Doha	9.74s	USA	1
7	Christian Coleman USA Coleman ran 9.76 seconds and won the 2019 World Championship 100m title in Doha.	2019	9.76s	USA	0
8	Nesta Carter Jamaica Carter ran 9.78 seconds and was a key member of Jamaica's world record-setting 4x100m relay teams.	2010 Rieti	9.78s	Jamaica	0
9	Maurice Greene USA Greene ran 9.79 seconds and was the dominant sprinter of the late 1990s, winning Olympic gold in 2000.	1999 Athens	9.79s	USA	1
10	Marcell Jacobs Italy Jacobs shocked the world by winning the 2020 Olympic 100m gold in Tokyo with a European record of 9.80 seconds.	2021 Tokyo Olympics	9.80s	Italy	1

This list is compiled from verified public records and reference sources. Last verified: March 14, 2026.

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