By Avry Lewis-McDougall (Free Agent Writer)

In a surprise to no one today Usain Bolt repeated as Olympic champion in the 100 M race breaking the Olympic mark with a time of 9.63 seconds showing once again why he is the undisputed king of track and field. Bolt, who had been injured earlier this year and lost in the Jamaican Olympic trials to country man Yohan Blake in both the 100 M and 200 M races (Blake finished 2nd) but Bolt put all doubt to rest as he cruised to victory today.

With the victory though I wonder what is next for the future of this race be it Olympics or not? Let’s take a look at the times of the three who ended up on the podium, Bolt finished at 9.63, Blake at 9.75 and Justin Gatlin at 9.79 seconds.

9.79 won the Bronze!! When Canada’s Ben Johnson won in 1988 before his was stripped of his Gold medal for doping violations 9.79 was his gold medal winning time. That is just insanity. There was a time when breaking 10 seconds was insane now we strive to see if anyone can break 9.4 seconds.

Donovan Bailey’s Gold medal winning time of 9.84 in Atlanta back in 1996 wouldn’t have even landed him on the podium, think about that, the best performance of a runner like Donovan does not even get him a medal. 7 out of the 8 runners ran sub 10 seconds, the only one that didn’t break 10 was Asafa Powell (ironically the former fastest man in the world himself who once ran 9.72 seconds) who pulled up lame with a groin injury and finished in 8th with a time of 11.99 seconds.

Imagine the time that Bolt could have if he had a good start? Let’s be honest he had a horrible start out of the blocks but was able to catch up Gatlin and Blake in a instant, that’s why he’s the best in the world right now. If Bolt had a fantastic start I would not have been shocked if he hit 9.58 again or just destroyed that mark with a mark of say 9.50 or 9.48 seconds.

Usain Bolt is the ultimate show in track and field right now, how much longer can he keep doing it? I think we will see him back in 2016 in Rio before Yohan Blake becomes the #1 guy for Jamaica, I had the pleasure of watching Blake run at the Donovan Bailey Invitational event in Edmonton this summer and he showed that he can challenge anyone in the world and has the best shot at breaking some of Bolt’s records in the future.

Is there a limit that we will reach with the 100 M mark? I do think so. Our bodies can only do so much before we begin to break down, but, I also think that track and field will one day see someone break 9 seconds. Impossible? We will see and that is the beauty of sport no one knows what the ceiling point of success will be.

That’s all for now follow me on twitter @Avry