1 Yohan Blake
100m Record: 9.69 Seconds (tie)
Nicknamed “The Beast,” Yohan Blake is one of the famous runners to not miss out on every list of fastest runners. In fact, he is arguably believed to occupy the second position of the list of fastest runners in the world as he was able to complete a 100-meter sprint in 9.69 seconds – the same run time with Tyson Gay.
In his career, Blake set his best run time for 100 meters as 9.69 seconds. The event, which took place in Switzerland was where he became the second-fastest man ever. At the age of 19, he was the youngest man to finish the race under 10 seconds.
In all his international competitions, the Jamaican runner has been able to bag a total of 14 golds, four silvers, and three bronze medals. As of 2020, all eyes have been on Blake to become the fastest runner in the world. Though age – 30 – may not be on his side, his current performance is promising.
2 Christian Coleman
Professional sprinter from the United States Christian Coleman is a sprinter who competes in the 100m and 200m. He is the world champion in the 100m as of February 2022. He also holds the record for the fastest 100m time of 9.76 seconds. Christian Coleman won two gold medals at the 2017 World Athletics Championships.
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3 Evelyn Ashford & Veronica Campbell Brown (Tie)
100 m Record: 10.76 seconds
Retired American athlete Evelyn Ashford was the first woman to break the 11-second barrier at an Olympic Games, and she is a five-time Olympic medallist, four of them gold. Ashford’s first world record was set in 1983 at the National Sports Festival when she ran the 100 metres in 10.97 seconds. Her personal record of 10.76 seconds came in 1984, where it still ranks as the No. 8 individual all-time.
Ashford also won three consecutive gold medals in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics. During her career, she ran under the 11-second barrier over thirty times.
She was of course inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1997 where she was said to be ‘one of the greatest track and field runners ever’.
Veronica Campbell Brown achieved her personal best time of 10.76 seconds in the 100 metres in 2011, twenty-seven years after Evelyn Ashford did. Born in Jamaica, Veronica Campbell Brown is an eight-time Olympic medallist, with three golds to her name.
She is the second woman in history to win two consecutive Olympic 200 metre events, claiming the title in both 2004 and 2008. Campbell Brown is one of only nine athletes to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior levels of the events.
4 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.
5 Usain Bolt
Laughing his way to astonishing finishes, this long and lanky sprinter breaks boundaries every time he touches the track. He has been known as the fastest sprinter and Olympic champion for Jamaica. His charisma launched him from fame to stardom and he became one of the most well-known athletes in the world. His personable attitude sets him apart from other athletes, he’s gone so far as to nickname his competitors. He gave Yohan Blake, a 2011 gold medalist the nickname “The Beast.” Another famous 100m athlete is Richard Thompson “Torpedo” who ran the 100m in 9.82 seconds.
He is the fastest man on earth, beating some impressive competition for three Olympic games in a row to win gold medals in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter races. He also has three gold medals with his Jamaican teammates in the 4 x 100 meter relay.
6 Asafa Powell
Fastest recorded speed: 9.72 s /100m = 37.04 km/h (23.01 mph)
Date of Birth: November 23, 1982
Place of Birth: Spanish Town, Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica
Nationality: Jamaican
Asafa Powell is yet another Jamaican who belongs to the fastest people in history. Born in 1982 in Spanish Town, Jamaica, Powell grew up as the youngest of six sons of two Christian ministers. All of his brothers showed a great physical prowess and speed from their earliest ages on and his oldest brother, Donovan Powell, went on to become a sprinter as well. Yet, in the end, the youngest sibling proved to be the fastest: Asafa Powell ran 100 meters in 9.72 at an athletics event in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2008. He is now ranked as the fourth fastest human in history.
7 Richard Thompson
100 m Record: 9.82
Richard Thompson, who hails from Cascade, Trinidad, and Tobago, is popularly known as the Torpedo. The sprinter aced the top-notch speed of 9.82 in 100 m events, making him the 10th fastest sprinter in the world. Thompson has won a silver in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 100 m sprint category.
8 Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin is a former American sprinter who was the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, and the 2005 and 2017 World Champions in the 100 meters.
He has won numerous gold medals in track and field events. He is a 5-time Olympic medalist and a 12-time World Championship medalist.
Gatlin has set multiple world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter events, and he is known for his lightning-fast speed and explosive starts.
Despite facing controversy and suspension due to doping allegations, Gatlin continues to be a dominant force in the world of track and field and is considered one of the greatest sprinters of all time.
Gatlin’s personal best time of 9.74 seconds makes him number five on this list of fastest runners ever to have lived!
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9 Maurice Greene (9.79s)
Greene ran a 100m time of 9.79s in Athens in 1999, which was a new world record at the time. The American dominated the international sprint scene in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, most notably winning gold in the 100m at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Greene also still holds the world record in the 60m dash (6.39s), which he set in 1998 and later equalled in 2001.
10 Tyson Gay – 9.69
Running the 100 metre sprint in only 9.69 seconds at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in September 2009, American athlete Tyson Gay is currently the second fastest runner in this event. He notably won the 100 metre and 200 metre sprint as well contributing to the 4x100m relay win for the USA at the 2007 Osaka World Championship. He was the second man to have won all three medals in a single championship, after Maurice Greene.