Could This Kid Be The One to Take Down Usain Bolt?

There is only one thing that is ever for certain about being the fastest man in the world--eventually someone is going to take you down. Not just on the track in some random race now, but in the record books. Usain Bolt has been on top for sometime now (set the current world record of 9.58 back in August 2009).

Does that mean his time has come? Not necessarily, but when you stay on top long enough someone is going to knock you off. Some believe that someone could eventually be this kid, 17-year old Yoshihide Kiryu.



In the race above on April 29 he tied the world junior record with a time of 10.01.

Yes, that's pretty far away from Bolt's 9.58, but the kid is still pretty young and has plenty of time to grow and get better.

Fair weather fans may not know this, but Bolt didn't actually start running the 100M till a tournament in Crete
(23rd Vardinoyiannia meeting ) back in  July 2007. Up till that point he had been a 200M and 400M man. In his debut 100M he didn't do too shabby--10.03.

So at the age of 20 (if I did my math right) he ran .02 slower than Kiryu.

Hmmm...

It is food for thought, but if Kiryu is to take Bolt down there will still need to be a lot of things that have to go his way. Training has to be on target and then there is the possibility of a young Bolt still improving on his mark. One or two injuries could put a serious damper on the notion.

But that's why its 'could' in the title and not 'will' or 'should' or anything else ore definitive. A lot of things can still happen for both runners, but for now it sure is fun to talk about.