Although the 10-second barrier for the 100 metres race was broken by Jim Hines at the 1968 Olympics with a timing of 9.95 seconds, the thrilling dash by the sprinters from the starting block to the tape at the finishing line remains one of the most exciting events of the sporting world. Little wonder that it has held the pride of place at the Olympics ever since Jesse Owens said after his success at the 1936 Berlin Games how a lifetime of training culminated in the most awe-inspiring 10 seconds of one’s life. As the current holder of the world record, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt is the toast of both sportsmen and couch potatoes. Even if he failed by 0.05 seconds in London to equal his feat at a Berlin event in 2009 when he clocked 9.58 seconds, the time of 9.63 seconds that he took to set a new Olympic record would still mark him out as the most fleet-footed man on earth.
In the coming years, the world may see a leaner and meaner sprinter shave another fraction of a second off ‘Lightning’ Bolt’s record to raise the ever intriguing question about the limits of human ambition and speed. Irrespective of tumbling records in this and other events, the achievers will always be heroes who will act as inspiring figures.
Bolt’s speed of 37.37 kmph is well below, of course, the cheetah’s 112, the lion’s 80, the greyhound’s 63 and even the rabbit’s 56. The exceptional nature of his feat lies in his motivation that is vastly different from the fear and greed which drives animals to the limits of their endurance. In the case of a sprinter, the driving force is the urge to test his mettle against rivals in the sporting field in the matter of making his muscles and nerves achieve their maximum potential to reach a target. It is this burning zeal that enabled seven of the eight finalists in the 100 metres race to clock less than 10 seconds.