Question 1

True or false: Bolt's 9.58 record is faster than the average speed of a cheetah over 100 meters.

Accepted Answer

False. Cheetahs average about 30 mph over 100m, while Bolt averaged 23.35 mph. The cat wins easily.

Question 2

True or false: Bolt's top speed during his 9.58 race was over 27 miles per hour.

Accepted Answer

True. He hit 27.33 mph (12.2 m/s) between 60-70 meters, the fastest ever recorded for a human.

Question 3

True or false: Usain Bolt never broke the 100-meter world record at the Olympic Games.

Accepted Answer

False. He set the Olympic record of 9.63 in London 2012, but his world record 9.58 was set at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Question 4

True or false: Bolt's 9.58 was run into a slight headwind, not with a tailwind.

Accepted Answer

False. The wind was +0.9 m/s, a legal tailwind. A headwind would have slowed him significantly, likely preventing the record.

Question 5

True or false: Usain Bolt's 9.58 world record time was hand-timed, not electronic.

Accepted Answer

False. It was officially recorded with fully automatic timing (FAT), accurate to 0.01 seconds. Hand-timing would add about 0.24 seconds, making 9.58 impossible.

Question 6

True or false: Bolt celebrated by beating his chest before crossing the finish line in his 9.58 race.

Accepted Answer

False. He leaned at the line and threw his arms up after. The chest-beating myth comes from his 2008 Olympic win, not the world record race.

Question 7

True or false: Usain Bolt took 41 steps to cover the 100 meters in his world record run.

Accepted Answer

True. Most sprinters take 45-50 steps. Bolt's long stride length (about 2.44 meters) meant fewer steps, a key to his speed.

Question 8

True or false: Bolt's reaction time in his 9.58 race was slower than the average of the other finalists.

Accepted Answer

True. He reacted in 0.146 seconds, while the field average was 0.143. His raw speed, not quick start, made the record possible.

Usain Bolt's 100m World Record Trivia Questions