A lookback at Usain Bolt's 200m world record run at Berlin

Usain Bolt set world records in 100m and 200m during the World Athletics Championships in 2009 at Berlin.

15 years back on August 20 the world record of 19.19 secs in the 200m was set by Usain Bolt. He ran it in the Berlin Olympic Stadium during the World Athletics Championships in 2009. The Championships were held from August 15 to August 23. Bolt was a day shy of his 22nd birthday while breaking his own record in the race.

The former Jamaican sprinter had set an Olympic and world record in the 200m exactly on August 20, 2008 during the Beijing Olympics. He had secured gold with a timing of 19.30 secs and had broken Michael Johnson’s 12-year- record.

But this time at Berlin, Bolt was sprinting away to record after record. He had earlier broken the 100m record on August 16, 2009 with a timing of 9.58 secs. The track at Berlin kept witnessing the supremacy of Bolt in 2009.

Usain Bolt’s 200m world record at Berlin

Bolt started the heats with a timing of 20.70 secs in heat five with a reaction time of 0.183 secs which was the slowest in the heat. In the semi-finals, lightning bolt finished first with a timing of 20.08 secs and a reaction time of 0.177 secs. It was the second slowest reaction time in the semi-finals behind the 0.191 seconds of Rolando Palacios.

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In the finals, there was a false start by David Alerte as the athletes again came back to their blocks. The camera was focused on the world record holder as he smiled and signalled the fans to calm down. Everything changed after that as Bolt had the fastest reaction time of 0.133 seconds.

On this day 15 years ago, 🇯🇲's @usainbolt stormed to 19.19 to smash the 200m world record in Berlin 😤#WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/G0aFtZ3REs

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 20, 2024

He began taking the lead even before the curve as none of his rivals could catch up with him. Bolt began increasing the lead as it was clear that it was going to be a record breaking run. He finished with a timing of 19.19 seconds as Alonso Edwards won silver with a timing of 19.81 secs and Wallace Spearmon came in third with a timing of 19.85 seconds.

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