Fastest men in history in their respective continents

Fastest men in history in their respective continents

ATHLETICS Fastest men in history in their respective continents

Funmilayo Fameso 01:40 - 17.03.2023

Over the years, the fastest men in the world have been produced from different continents. Here's a current list of the fastest men in history in their respective continents.

The men's 100m is the most competitive and lucrative track and field event, as several sprinters race for the bragging rights of being called the fastest men in history, the world, their continents, and even their countries.

These sprinters work day and night for years of racing a 100m race in 9 seconds, and to top it all, winning medals at major championships.

Over the years, several sprinters have emerged from different countries and continents, who have broken their area records and sped to the history books.

Here's a list of the fastest men in history in their respective continents.

Africa - Ferdinand Omanyala (9.77s)

The Kenyan track star equalled South Africa's Akani Simbine's African Record (AR) of 9.84s before smashing it to 9.77s at the Moi International Sports Center in Kasarani, Nairobi. By doing this, he became the first African athlete in history to go sub-9.80s in the event.

Noteworthy is that the previous AR was 9.85s by Nigeria's Olusoji Fasuba, set in 2006. Simbine and Omanyala surpassed these times in 2021.

Asia - Bingtian Su (9.83s)

The Chinese speedster is the only sprinter of non-African descent to run the 100m with sub-9.90s and sub-9.85s, and the first ever Asian-born sprinter to break the 10s barrier.

Su ran his Asian Record at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he clocked his time in his qualifying heat and became the fifth fastest man in the history of 100m at the Olympics and the fifteenth fastest man in the history of the 100m.

Europe - Marcell Jacobs (9.80s)

The Italian first broke the European record of 9.85s with a new 9.84s to finish third in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

He later lowered this time with a massive 9.80s for the Olympic title, becoming the first Italian sprinter in history to reach an Olympic final and be crowned Olympic champion.

South America - Robson da Silva (10.00s)

The longest-standing record among the continental records, Robson da Silva clocked his South American Record in 1988 at the Ciudad de México (MEX).

Oceania - Patrick Johnson (9.93s)

He is the current Oceanian and Australian record holder with a time of 9.93s, which he achieved in Mito, Japan, on May 5, 2003.

With this time, he became the first person not of African ancestry to break the 10 seconds barrier.

North America - Usain Bolt (9.58s, also the World Record)

Regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time, the Jamaican set the current World Record of 9.58s at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin to win his first of many World Championships medals.

Bolt erased over a tenth of a second off his previous best of 9.69s, making it the largest-ever margin of improvement in the 100m WR since the beginning of electronic timing.

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