Which “fastest man in the World” established the most astonishing records: Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis or Usain Bolt?

Whoever wins the 100m at the Olympics is often called the "fastest man in the World". Who is all-time best runner: Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis or Usain Bolt?

Owen vs Lewis vs Bolt

It can be very difficult to compare athletes across time, because of the evolution of running technique and technology in training, equipment and food has made sports change dramatically over the last few decades. However, when we talk about the best sprinters ever, three names will naturally appear in the conversation: Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt.

Fastest men in the World

• Jesse Owens, born in Alabama in 1913 and died in Arizona in 1980 was the most impressive athlete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He won 4 gold medals (100m, 200m, 4x100m and Long jump) and crushed the myth of Aryan supremacy in front of Hitler and the entire Nazi regime. One year before, at the 1935 Big Ten track, he managed to set three world records and tie another one in less than an hour.
• Carl Lewis, also born in Alabama in 1961 was the first athlete to equal Owens record in a single Olympics: in 1984 he won 4 gold medals (100m, 200m, 4x100m and Long Jump). He was able to win gold medals in 4 different Olympics, for a total of 9 golds in his carreer. During his career he set world records in 100m, 4x100m and 4x200m and he is still holding the world record for indoor long jump (established in 1984).
• Usain Bolt, born in Sherwood Content (Jamaica) in 1986 is the first athlete ever to hold both 100m and 200m world records since fully automatic time measurement became mandatory in 1977. He is currently holding 3 world records (100m, 200m and 4x100m). He is the first athlete to win 9 gold medals in sprint (Carl Lewis won 5 in sprint and 4 in Long jump). Unfortunately Bolt was later stripped from his latest 4x100m gold medal because of a dopping positive by one of his team-mates in the Jamaican team. He is also the first to win three consecutive gold on 100m, the most prestigious race in sprint. Not only did he break records, but he did it by large margins. For example, in 2009 he broke his own world record of 100m (from 9.69 to 9.58, the highest margin since the start of fully automatic time measurements).

Watch these videos with the most exciting moments of the fastest men in the world

The three of them are legendary sprinters that compete to be considered among all-time best sportsmen.

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