Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Five days ago, as you may recall, I said that Usain Bolt of Jamaica can run a 19.1-second 200-meter dash, and maybe even 19 seconds flat. Yesterday, in Berlin, he broke his own world record of 19.30 seconds with a spectacular dash of 19.19 seconds! Words fail me. When I was born, on 7 April 1957, the world record at this event was 20.6 seconds. Pietro Mennea of Italy held the record of 19.72 seconds for nearly 17 years, until it was broken by Michael Johnson of the United States. Johnson ran 19.66 and then a stunning 19.32 seconds in 1996. A year ago, at the Beijing Olympics, Bolt ran 19.30, and now, a year to the day later, he has run 19.19. His average speed was 23.31 miles per hour, just short of the 23.35 he recorded four days earlier in the 100-meter dash. As I said the other day, the 200-meter record should be faster, not slower, than the 100-meter record, because it takes a while to get up to speed. This means that Bolt can do better at 200 meters than he did yesterday. I think he will go under 19 seconds before his career is over. Let us hope, for the sake of track and field, that he is not using prohibited substances.