Usain Bolt Aims Subtle Dig at Noah Lyles as True Feelings on US Sprint Star Revealed

Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds in the men’s 100 metres has stood untouched for 16 years, longer than any sprinting mark in history.

But the Jamaican sprint legend believes he could have gone even faster if he had benefitted from today’s carbon-plated “super-spikes” that are redefining track and field.

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Bolt, who set the record at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin after breaking his own 9.69 mark from the Beijing Olympics, insists the new footwear technology would have propelled him to an astonishing 9.42 seconds.

Puma, his longtime sponsor, ran simulations predicting the same.

“I fully agree,” Bolt said at an event in Tokyo ahead of the World Championships in ain interview with Sky Sports.

“Someone who continued after I retired was Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce and I saw what she did - she got faster with the spikes. I probably would have run way faster if I'd continued and if I knew that spikes would have got to that level maybe I would have, because it would have been great to compete at that level and running that fast.”

Bolt has long carried Jamaican sprinting on his shoulders, but since his retirement in 2017, no Jamaican man has captured a global sprint title.

That could change this weekend in Tokyo, with Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville leading the charge.

Bolt is optimistic about their chances

“I think we have a very good chance this year. Kishane and Oblique have really showed this season that they're really doing extremely well,” he said.

“I'm looking forward to it, I mean they should be one-two because they've proved they are running fast times so it's just all about execution. So I'm happy to go into the stadium and see and hopefully I'll be able to present the gold medal to one of them.”

But the question of who Bolt might hand a medal to is a little more complicated.

If it happens to be defending champion Noah Lyles, Bolt may not be as keen. Although he downplayed any personal animosity, his comments carried a subtle dig at the American.

“I don't think Noah is as crazy as dealing with Justin (Gatlin), so for me it's no different,” he said of Lyles, who earlier this season boasted he had Thompson “in his pocket.”

“I think Gatlin over the years, we pushed back and forth, but he was a different breed because he came up in the era where trash talking was just normal to everybody. As you know I never listened to anybody, I know when I'm preparing and I'm ready you can say whatever you want you're not going to beat me so I'm always focusing so it would never be a problem.”

Bolt also had advice for Australia’s teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout, who has drawn comparisons to the Jamaican icon.

The 17-year-old will debut at the World Championships in the 200 metres next week, but Bolt cautioned that stepping up from junior to senior level is a formidable challenge.

“If he continues on this track it's going to be good but it's all about getting everything right. I mean, it's never just easy,” Bolt said. “It's always easier when you're younger because I was there, I used to do great things when I was young but the transition to senior from junior is always tougher.”

Now 39, Bolt said he welcomes new faces to the stage but insisted greatness demands more than raw speed.

“He's very talented, with the times he's running now and he's really been doing well,” he concluded.