Usain Bolt 'fully agrees' he could have smashed 100m world record with new super spikes - but by how much?
Updated 11/09/2025 at 18:40 GMT+1
A new study has suggested that Usain Bolt could have run the 100m in 9.42 seconds had he worn super spikes. Wouter Hoogkamer and his team at the University of Massachusetts were approached by Puma to work out how the Jamaican star would have performed with the new generation of track and field shoes. Bolt's current world record time of 9.58 was set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.Â
Bolt 'fully agrees' he could have smashed 100m world record with new super spikes
Video credit: TNT Sports
A new study has posited that sprint legend Usain Bolt could have run the 100m in 9.42 seconds had he worn super spikes, the new generation of track and field shoes.
Wouter Hoogkamer, together with his team at the University of Massachusetts, were contacted by Puma to do a study on how Bolt would have performed in the 100m had his spikes been equipped with bouncy foam and a carbon plate.
Their 21-page study, which used data from some 15 athletes, argued that the Jamaican would have run the 100m some 0.16 seconds faster than his current world record time of 9.58, which was set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.Â
Speaking from Tokyo ahead of the World Athletics Championships, which starts on Saturday and will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+, Bolt said he agreed with the findings.Â
"I fully agree with it," Bolt said. "Because one athlete that continued after I retired was Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and she got faster with the new spikes.Â
"I probably would have run way faster with them too.
"If I knew that spikes would have gotten to that level, maybe I wouldn't have (retired) because it would have been great to compete at that level and running that fast.
"I haven’t tried the new shoes. I don’t want to pull my hamstrings. But the shoes are clearly good."
Bolt’s 100m world record is unlikely to be beaten for some time, with it having been 13 years since an athlete ran inside 9.7 seconds, and the Jamaican admitted he was hoping that one of his children could one day take the prize.Â
"I’ve always hoped that maybe one of my kids, my boys, will do track and field," he said.
Fastest 100m times in history
| Athlete | Time |
| Usain Bolt | 9.58 (2009 World Athletics Championships) |
| Usain Bolt | 9.63 (2012 Olympics) |
| Usain Bolt | 9.69 (2008 Olympics) |
| Tyson Gay | 9.69 (2009 Shanghai Golden Grand Prix) |
| Yohan Blake | 9.69 (2012 Diamond League Lausanne) |
"I don’t know. They’re not showing any talent yet. Hopefully, they’ll get better, we’ll see."
On the World Championships in Tokyo, Bolt added that he was backing Jamaicans Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville to both beat Olympic champion Noah Lyles in Sunday’s men’s 100m final.
"I think it is more stressful watching my fellow Jamaicans run than when I actually competed," Bolt added.
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"I have seen Shelly-Ann and the other guys compete down the years and I have always got so nervous watching them.
"Kishane and Oblique have already shown they are in shape. They should be 1-2 because they have proved throughout the season that they are on top and are running fast.
"Now it’s just about one of them executing and it should be fine. I’m very confident that they can get it done."
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