 "Usain Bolt picks his successor and it's not Paris Olympics gold medallist Noah Lyles. Image: Reuters")
Can anyone ever break Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint record? Oblique Seville can — or so believes the legendary Jamaican sprinter himself. The 24-year-old Seville has been picked by the 38-year-old Bolt as the athlete most likely to break his iconic record.
Bolt, who won eight gold medals at the Olympics, scripted the 100m record at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin when he registered the timing of 9.58 seconds. The record has stood unchallenged since then.
A few racers including Yohan Blake and Tyson Gay did come to the timing, both registering 9.69 seconds in 2009 and 2012 respectively, but 9.58 seconds has proved to be an insurmountable challenge.
Bolt feels Oblique Seville will break his world record
Teenage sprint sensations Gout Gout of Australia and Britain’s Divine Iheme are seen as potential threats to Bolt’s record, but the legend had picked Seville.
“I feel like Oblique can do it. If he can stay fit during the season and get it right, I feel he can do it, because I am sure there is something there, the ability to do it,” Bolt said while speaking on The Fix Podcast.
Bolt though added that Seville will have to overcome his inconsistency to create a new world record.
“Some of the time Oblique can be fragile. It’s a matter of the work situation or whatever, but if he’s doing enough work, he can do it.
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More Shorts“It’s a matter of time because he’s not missed the finals yet, so it’s just to get over the hump.”
Explaining how Seville can break his record, Bolt said: “He’s the master and he just needs to find the right season, stay clean and do the right thing, and if the coach believes him and the coach says. It’s just that he needs to put it all together.”
Seville has a personal best of 9.81 seconds in 100m. He came last in the 100m final at Paris Olympics 2024. However, he had beaten gold medallist Noah Lyles at the Racers Grand Prix in Jamaica last year.
Bolt also holds the 200m world record with a timing of 19.19 which was also set in Berlin at the same event in 2009.