YouTube video - Usain Bolt breaks the 100m world record

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, broke the world record as he blitzed his rivals to claim the Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres final in Beijing.
He shaved three hundreds of a second off his own record despite slowing down and looking all around before the finishing line. Bolt is 6-foot-5, one reason he was never really pegged to run the 100 — men that tall aren't supposed to be able to get out of the starting blocks fast enough to win the shortest sprint.

Bolt's specialty has been the 200 meters, and he will be a heavy favorite to win that one next week in what would be the first men's Olympic sprint double since Carl Lewis in 1988. But Bolt persuaded his coach 13 months ago to let him try the 100, too — and what quick progress he has made.

"Usain was spectacular," Powell said. "He was definitely untouchable tonight. He could have gone a lot faster if he had run straight through the line."

Bolt actually skidded from the blocks in this one — not perfect, but then again, he didn't really need to be. He needed 41 strides to cover the 100 meters and practically loped past the finish line, looking to his right but finding no other runners there.

Bolt, 21, who nearly did not run in the event because he considers himself better at 200 metres, recorded a time of 9.69 seconds. He would surely have done a time of around 9.6 seconds if he had pushed himself all the way to the line.