Will Usain Bolt’s records be broken at the Commonwealth Games 2022?

Will Usain Bolt’s records be broken at the Commonwealth Games 2022?

USAIN LEO BOLT, widely regarded as THE GOAT sprinter in the sport’s history, has set standards for the sprinting game that no one has ever surpassed. The Jamaican ace is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and holds world records in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay.

Lightning Bolt, as the world knows, completed the 100m sprint in 9.58 seconds and the 200m sprint in 19.19 seconds, both world records. He also helped Jamaica capture three 4 100m relay world records, the most prominent of which is 36.84 seconds set in 2012.

Bolt is the first athlete in history to win four World Championship crowns in the 200 m category, and he is also one of the most successful athletes in the 100 m bracket, with three championships.

To be considered the best, one must outshine the greatest, and many athletes queued up to do just that at the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

Here are the top 5 male sprinters who are projected to win a 100m medal and do the unthinkable at CWG 2022,

 

YUPUN ABEYKOON

Yupun Abeykoon is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete who holds national records in the men’s 100m and indoor 60m. He is currently ranked as the best Sri Lankan and South Asian athlete in the men’s 100m category. 

On July 3, 2022, he became the first South Asian to break the 10-second threshold in the men’s 100-meter category at the Resisprint International competition in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, with a clocking of 9.96 seconds. He is trained by Italian and former 400m Olympian Claudio Licciardello.

In addition, he is the first-ever Sri Lankan to compete in the Diamond League. He cemented a new Asian benchmark in the men’s 150m in April 2022, timing 15.16 seconds.

On May 22, 2022, in the Stadio Zecchini in Grosseto, Italy, he won the men’s 200 meters sprint, setting a new national record of 20.37 seconds. On May 25, 2022, he set a national record when he won the men’s 100 meters in just 10.06 seconds at the Paul-Greifzu-Stadion in Dessau, Germany.

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REECE PRESCOD

Reece Prescod, 26, of London, won silver in the 100 meters event at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in 9.96 seconds.

Prescod qualified in pole position at the GB trials, ahead of former World Championships finalist James Dasaolu, to contest in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. 

After retaining his British championship in 2018, he finished second in the final of the 2018 European Athletics Championships, trailing compatriot Zharnel Hughes.

In 2018, Prescod set a personal best of 9.94. Prescod cracked the 10-second barrier three times in 2018, including a wind-assisted 9.88 in the Eugene Diamond League race in Oregon.

 

BENJAMIN AZAMATI-KWAKU

Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku is a Ghanaian-born international sprinter who made history on March 26, 2021, in Texas by shattering a 22-year national record held by Leo Myles Mills with a time of 9.97 seconds guaranteeing him for the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

He emerged as an Olympic sprint prospect for Ghana as a 21-year-old after finishing 100 meters in 10.02 seconds HT at the 2019 Ghana’s Fastest Human competition. At the 2019 African Games in Rabat, he earned a gold medal in the 4x100m relay and twice won the GUSA 100m.

In 2021, he set a new national record for 100m with 9.97 seconds and bettered his record for 200m with 20.13 seconds.

Azamati broke his own 100m national record to an early global lead of 9.90 seconds on March 25, 2022, in Texas, USA, making him the fourth-fastest senior of all time alongside Trayvon Bromell. This performance ultimately ranked him in the top 50 all-time 100m sprint achievements, with just six Africans running faster at the time.

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FERDINAND OMURWA

Ferdinand Omanyala Omurwa is a Kenyan sprinter who primarily contests in the 100m and 200m sprints. He currently holds the African record and is the eighth fastest man in history in the 100 meters, with a time of 9.77 on September 18, 2021, in Nairobi.

In 2019, Omurwa won the national 100-meter championship. On March 30, 2021, he set a national milestone in the 100 meters with a time of 10.01 seconds at the Yabatech Sports Complex in Lagos (NGR). 

He achieved a new national record of 10.00 seconds in the 100m semi-finals of the 2020 Summer Games. He was just 0.04 seconds off the pace of eventual silver medalist Fred Kerley and 0.02 seconds slower than the bronze medalist Andre De Grasse.

Omanyala then set a new career-high of 9.86 seconds in Austria, becoming the first Kenyan to breach the 10-second limit.

On September 18, 2021, he ran a 9.77 for a new African best in the Absa Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, finishing second to Trayvon Bromell, who ran the world-leading time of 9.76.

 

AKANI SIMBINE

South African sprinter Akani Simbine held the African 100-meter record with a run of 9.84 seconds until Ferdinand Omurwa broke it in September 2021.

Simbine was a World Championships finalist in the men’s 100m in 2017 and 2019, as well as the African Championships and Commonwealth Games 100m gold medalist in 2018. He helped South Africa win the African Championships in 2016 and 2018, and he finished second in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in a South African record time of 38.24 seconds.

He helped South Africa win gold in the World Relays in 2021. Simbine has made it into the top five in the last four major championship 100m races, including fourth in the 2019 World Athletics Championships – Men’s 100 meters and fourth in the Athletics event at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men’s 100 meters, where he finished just behind eventual bronze medalist Canadian track star Andre De Grasse.