The first time Usain Bolt attended the World Championship was in Helsinki (Finland) 2005. That year, his most impressive achievement was the 200m final.
Two years later, Bolt improved and won this content gold medal. By 2009, the era of dominance of “lightning” began. Four consecutive prizes later, Bolt won a total of 11 gold medals, dropping only one gold medal in 100m in 2011 because of a mistake that caused him to be eliminated.
Arriving in London 2017, Bolt announced that this would be the last major tournament in his career. Many fans cried when Bolt only finished 3rd on the 100m track, and could not win another world gold medal for his dazzling achievement collection.
The legendary journey of such a “lightning bolt” is over. Despite the failure in London 2017, he still lags behind other illustrious names in the all-time medal table in this arena with 11 gold medals (the closest Bolt is LaShawn Merritt with only 8 gold).
Going along with Usain Bolt’s retirement decision is a big question: Who is the fastest runner on the planet now? It is really difficult to answer. In theory, Justin Gatlin and Christian Coleman are the leading candidates because they have surpassed Bolt in the last world championship he attended, especially Gatlin – who won gold with a 9.92 seconds record.
But if you want to wait for a change, this year Gatlin is 37 years old is definitely not the ideal name. The American athlete is actually a senior of Usain Bolt. Before the “lightning” appeared, he was the ruler of the 100m run. Whether Gatlin can maintain his performance or not is also unpredictable.