The record-breaking performances of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt in the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the 2009 staging of the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany are ranked number one by the governing body of track and field.
Bolt turned in the same kind of performance at the Berlin Championships as he had at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when he shattered the 100 and 200 meter records in an “astonishingly carefree manner,” states the IAAF on its website. Organizers of the August 2017 World Championships in London rated his runs in the men’s 100 meters (9.58 seconds) and 200 meters (19.19 seconds) as the best of all time. Bolt was also listed at Number 5 for his defeat of Justin Gatlin of the United States in the men’s 100 meters at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce is listed in the top 20 at Number 16 for her gold medal victory in the women’s 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4×100-meter relay at the Moscow World Championships in 2013.
The IAAF World Championships is a biennial athletics event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Originally held every four years, first in 1983, the current two-year cycle began in 1991.