On your marks. Get set. Go!
The race itself may be over in the time it takes to write your name in wet cement, but every four years at the Olympics, few events capture more eyes across the globe than the Men's 100 metre sprint.
Names have become household names over the years, with American sprinters in Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Justin Gatlin finding fame and fortune after striking gold in Berlin, Los Angeles, Seoul and Athens respectively.
However, in recent years, the fastest men on the planet have invariably hailed from Jamaica, with the likes of Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake having left the rest of the world in their rearview mirrors.
Still, it is another Jamaican that stands head, shoulder and spiked shoe above the rest.
From go to woah, here are the ten fastest times ever recorded in organised 100 metre sprint events and the winged-heeled superstars that crossed the line first.
1. Usain Bolt โ 2009 โ 9.58 seconds (World Record)
On an August night in Berlin, at the same venue that Jesse Owens won gold in 1936, Bolt broke his own record he had set at the Beijing Olympics the year prior, riding the lightning to record a still unopposable time of 9.58 seconds.
2. Usain Bolt โ 2012 โ 9.64 seconds (Olympic Record)
Three years after setting the World Record in Germany, Bolt beat the likes of Blake, Gatlin and Powell across the line in London to break his previous Olympic marker.
3. Usain Bolt โ 2008 โ 9.69
ย ย Tyson Gay โ 2009
ย ย Johan Blake โ 2012
6. Tyson Gay โ 2009 โ 9.71
7. Usain Bolt โ 2008 โ 9.72
ย ย Asafa Powell โ 2008
9. Asafa Powell โ 2007 โ 9.74
ย ย Justin Gatlin โ 2015
