10-second barrier facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less important since the late 1990s, as an increasing number of runners have surpassed the ten seconds mark. The current men's world record holder is Usain Bolt, who ran a 9.58 at the 2009 IAAF World Championship competition.

History
- Hand timing
- Automatic timing
Electronically timed marks
- Totals
Hand timed marks

History

For sprints, World Athletics maintains that world records and other recognised performances require: a wind assistance of not more than two metres per second (7.2 kilometres per hour (4.5 mph)) in the direction of travel; fully automatic timing (FAT) to one hundredth of a second; and no use of performance-enhancing substances. Wind gauge malfunctions or infractions may invalidate a sprinter's time.

Hand timing

Prior to 1977, FAT was not required for IAAF official timings. Times were recorded manually to one tenth of a second; three official timers with stopwatches noted when the starting gun flashed and when the runner crossed the finish line, and their median recorded time was the official mark. Some races also had an unofficial FAT, or semi-automatic time, often in conjunction with photo finish equipment. The first person timed at under ten seconds was Bob Hayes, who ran 9.9 s in April 1963 at the Mt. SAC Relays, but with a tailwind of 11 mph (4.9 m/s). Hayes clocked another illegal 9.9 s (wind 5.3 m/s (12 mph)) in the semi-final of the 1964 Olympic 100 m, with the first sub-10 FAT of 9.91 s. In the final, Hayes' official tenths time of 10.0 s was calculated by rounding down the FAT of 10.06 s; the backup hand-timers recorded 9.8, 9.9, and 9.9, which would have given 9.9 s as the official time if the FAT had malfunctioned. At the 1968 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Charles C. Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California, United States, three men ran legal hand-timed 9.9 seconds: Jim Hines first and Ronnie Ray Smith second in the first semi-final, and Charlie Greene first in the second semi-final. This was dubbed the "Night of Speed", and all three were recognised as world records by the IAAF. The IAAF lists their FATs as: Hines 10.03, Smith 10.14 and Greene 10.10; although Time magazine reported at the time that "an automatic Bulova Accutron Phototimer confirmed that all three had indeed broken [10.0s]". Hines also had a wind-assisted 9.8 s in the heats. Hines went on to win the 1968 Olympic 100m in 9.9 s, rounded down from his FAT of 9.95, making it the first non-wind-assisted electronic sub-10-second performance. By 1976, six other men had equalled the 9.9 s hand-timed record, though none of their performances had an FAT mark.

Automatic timing

Carl Lewis was the first man to run under ten seconds at low altitude.

After the 1977 rule change, Jim Hines' nine-year-old 9.95 was the only recognised sub-10-second race. That year the barrier was broken again, when Silvio Leonard ran 9.98 seconds on 11 August 1977. Both of these marks were recorded at a high altitude, which aids performance due to lower air resistance.

Carl Lewis was the first sprinter to break ten seconds at low altitude under electronic timing, with 9.97 seconds on 14 May 1983 at the Modesto Relays. Calvin Smith at altitude recorded a world record 9.93 seconds on 3 July 1983, in Colorado Springs, Colorado and became the first sprinter to run under ten seconds twice, in August that year. In total, six sprinters legally broke the barrier during the 1980s. Another, Ben Johnson, had eclipsed both the 9.90 mark and 9.80 mark in 1987, respectively 1988 with 9.83 s and 9.79 s; however, both of these records were disqualified after he tested positive for, and later admitted to, using doping, namely steroids.

The 100 m final at the 1991 World Championships represented a new zenith in the event: six athletes ran under ten seconds in the same race, and winner Carl Lewis lowered the world record to 9.86 seconds. In second place was Leroy Burrell who also broke the former world record, which had been his at 9.90 seconds. In third place, 0.01 seconds slower than the former world record, was Dennis Mitchell with a time of 9.91 seconds. In fourth place, breaking his own European record of 9.97 seconds, was Linford Christie with a time of 9.92 seconds.

Maurice Greene, in 1999, was the first athlete to run under 9.80 seconds. Usain Bolt surpassed 9.70 seconds in 2008, and 9.60 in 2009. After 2007, South America had the distinction of being the only area from which no athlete had run a sub-10 second 100m, this distinction was however lost in the area's own 100m Final on 28 July 2023 in which the three leading runners all made sub-10 second times. The 2008 season saw a new high for sub-10 second performances: 14 runners achieved the feat a total of 53 times between them, the highest ever for either figure. Furthermore, ten men had achieved the result for the first time in that year – another record. The men's 100 metres final at the 2008 Summer Olympics saw a world record and six men clear ten seconds (equalling the number from the 1991 World Championships). Only two months into the start of the outdoor track season, 2011 became a record-breaking year as fifteen men ran under ten seconds between April and June. As of 10 June 2013, 86 sprinters have broken the 10-second barrier with an official, legal time. The men's 100 metres final at the 2012 Summer Olympics saw a new Olympic record and seven out of eight finalists running under 10 seconds. However Tyson Gay, was later disqualified from this race. Prior to his disqualification, he had been in fourth place with a time of 9.80 seconds, the fastest fourth place in history.

On 29 May 2016, former World Champion Kim Collins improved his personal record by running 9.93 +1.9 in Bottrop as a 40-year-old. He improved his own standing as the oldest man to break the 10-second barrier, the first over the age of 40. Omar McLeod, a sprint hurdles specialist, became the first hurdling athlete to break ten seconds in April 2016.

No woman has recorded an official sub-10 second time yet. The female 100-metre world record is 10.49 seconds, set by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.

Electronically timed marks

Sprinters who have broken the 10-second barrier
#	Date	Athlete	Time 0(seconds)	Age	Nationality	Continent	Best (year)	Doping case
1	001 14 October 1968	Hines, JimJim Hines	9.95 A	22 years, 34 days	United States	North America	9.95 (1968)
2	002 11 August 1977	Leonard, SilvioSilvio Leonard	9.98 A	21 years, 325 days	Cuba	North America	9.98 (1977)
3	003 14 May 1983	Lewis, CarlCarl Lewis	9.97	21 years, 317 days	United States	North America	9.86 (1991)
4	004 3 July 1983	Smith, CalvinCalvin Smith	9.93 A	22 years, 176 days	United States	North America	9.93 (1983)
5	005 5 May 1984	Lattany, MelMel Lattany	9.96	24 years, 269 days	United States	North America	9.96 (1984)
6	006 9 July 1986	Johnson, BenBen Johnson	9.95	24 years, 191 days	Canada	North America	9.95 (1986)	Yes
7	007 24 September 1988	Christie, LinfordLinford Christie	9.97	28 years, 175 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.87 (1993)	Yes
8	008 20 May 1989	Stewart, RaymondRaymond Stewart	9.97	24 years, 63 days	Jamaica	North America	9.96 (1991)
9	009 16 June 1989	Burrell, LeroyLeroy Burrell	9.94	22 years, 115 days	United States	North America	9.85 (1994)
10	010 25 August 1991	Mitchell, DennisDennis Mitchell	9.99	25 years, 186 days	United States	North America	9.91 (1991)	Yes
11	011 25 August 1991	Fredericks, FrankieFrankie Fredericks	9.95	23 years, 327 days	Namibia	Africa	9.86 (1996)
12	012 11 September 1991	Cason, AndreAndre Cason	9.99	22 years, 234 days	United States	North America	9.92 (1993)
13	013 4 April 1992	Adeniken, OlapadeOlapade Adeniken	9.97	22 years, 229 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.95 (1994)
14	014 18 April 1992	Marsh, MichaelMichael Marsh	9.93	24 years, 258 days	United States	North America	9.93 (1992)
15	015 18 April 1992	Ezinwa, DavidsonDavidson Ezinwa	9.96	20 years, 148 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.94 (1994)	Yes
16	016 21 May 1993	Effiong, DanielDaniel Effiong	9.99	20 years, 338 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.98 (1993)	Yes
17	017 22 July 1994	Drummond, JonJon Drummond	9.99	25 years, 316 days	United States	North America	9.92 (1997)
18	018 22 April 1995	Bailey, DonovanDonovan Bailey	9.99	27 years, 127 days	Canada	North America	9.84 (1996)
19	019 15 June 1995	Surin, BrunyBruny Surin	9.97	27 years, 338 days	Canada	North America	9.84 (1999)
20	020 21 April 1996	Boldon, AtoAto Boldon	9.93	22 years, 113 days	Trinidad and Tobago	North America	9.86 (1998)
21	021 12 June 1997	Greene, MauriceMaurice Greene	9.96	22 years, 324 days	United States	North America	9.79 (1999)
22	022 12 June 1997	Streete-Thompson, KareemKareem Streete-Thompson	9.96	24 years, 74 days	United States	North America	9.96 (1997)
23	023 12 June 1997	Montgomery, TimTim Montgomery	9.96	22 years, 138 days	United States	North America	9.92 (1997)	Yes
24	024 20 June 1997	Spencer, PercivalPercival Spencer	9.98	22 years, 116 days	Jamaica	North America	9.98 (1997)
25	025 13 July 1997	Ogunkoya, SeunSeun Ogunkoya	9.97	19 years, 197 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.92 (1998)
26	026 9 August 1998	Henderson, VincentVincent Henderson	9.95	25 years, 293 days	United States	North America	9.95 (1998)
27	027 11 September 1998	Thompson, ObadeleObadele Thompson	9.87 A	22 years, 165 days	Barbados	North America	9.87 (1998)
28	028 5 June 1999	Myles-Mills, LeonardLeonard Myles-Mills	9.98	26 years, 27 days	Ghana	Africa	9.98 (1999)
29	029 13 June 1999	Chambers, DwainDwain Chambers	9.99	21 years, 69 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.97 (1999)	Yes
30	030 2 July 1999	Gardener, JasonJason Gardener	9.98	23 years, 287 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.98 (1999)
31	031 5 July 1999	Harden, TimTim Harden	9.92	25 years, 159 days	United States	North America	9.92 (1999)
32	032 2 June 2000	Miller, CobyCoby Miller	9.98	23 years, 227 days	United States	North America	9.98 (2000)
33	033 2 June 2000	Williams, BernardBernard Williams	9.99	22 years, 135 days	United States	North America	9.94 (2001)	Yes
34	034 21 June 2000	Obikwelu, FrancisFrancis Obikwelu	9.97	21 years, 212 days	Nigeria/ Portugal	Africa	9.86 (2004)
35	035 12 April 2002	Crawford, ShawnShawn Crawford	9.99	24 years, 88 days	United States	North America	9.88 (2004)	Yes
36	036 21 April 2002	Johnson, Joshua J.Joshua J. Johnson	9.95	25 years, 346 days	United States	North America	9.95 (2002)
37	037 4 May 2002	Lewis, BrianBrian Lewis	9.99	27 years, 150 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2002)
38	038 27 July 2002	Collins, KimKim Collins	9.98	26 years, 113 days	Saint Kitts and Nevis	North America	9.93 (2016)
39	039 5 May 2003	Johnson, PatrickPatrick Johnson	9.93	30 years, 221 days	Australia	Oceania	9.93 (2003)
40	040 19 July 2003	Aliu, DejiDeji Aliu	9.98	27 years, 239 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.95 (2003)
41	041 15 August 2003	Capel, JohnJohn Capel	9.97	24 years, 261 days	United States	North America	9.95 (2004)	Yes
42	042 15 August 2003	Gatlin, JustinJustin Gatlin	9.97	21 years, 186 days	United States	North America	9.74 (2015)	Yes
43	043 15 August 2003	Grimes, MickeyMickey Grimes	9.99	26 years, 309 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2003)	Yes
44	044 12 October 2003	Emedolu, UchennaUchenna Emedolu	9.97	27 years, 25 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.97 (2003)
45	045 12 June 2004	Powell, AsafaAsafa Powell	9.99	21 years, 202 days	Jamaica	North America	9.72 (2008)	Yes
46	046 14 June 2005	Zakari, AzizAziz Zakari	9.99	28 years, 285 days	Ghana	Africa	9.99 (2005)	Yes
47	047 25 June 2005	Burns, MarcMarc Burns	9.96	22 years, 169 days	Trinidad and Tobago	North America	9.96 (2005)
48	048 25 June 2005	Brown, DarrelDarrel Brown	9.99	20 years, 257 days	Trinidad and Tobago	North America	9.99 (2005)
49	049 5 July 2005	Pognon, RonaldRonald Pognon	9.99	22 years, 231 days	France	Europe	9.99 (2005)
50	050 22 July 2005	Scott, LeonardLeonard Scott	9.94	25 years, 184 days	United States	North America	9.91 (2006)
51	051 25 May 2006	Fasuba, OlusojiOlusoji Fasuba	9.93	21 years, 320 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.85 (2006)
52	052 25 July 2006	Gay, TysonTyson Gay	9.97	23 years, 350 days	United States	North America	9.69 (2009)	Yes
53	053 18 August 2006	Brunson, MarcusMarcus Brunson	9.99	28 years, 116 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2006)
54	054 24 April 2007	Atkins, DerrickDerrick Atkins	9.98	23 years, 109 days	Bahamas	North America	9.91 (2007)
55	055 8 June 2007	Dix, WalterWalter Dix	9.93	21 years, 128 days	United States	North America	9.88 (2010)
56	056 26 July 2007	Francis, SamuelSamuel Francis	9.99	20 years, 121 days	Qatar	Asia	9.99 (2007)
57	057 28 September 2007	Spearmon, WallaceWallace Spearmon	9.96	22 years, 278 days	United States	North America	9.96 (2007)
58	058 3 May 2008	Bolt, UsainUsain Bolt	9.76	21 years, 256 days	Jamaica	North America	9.58 (2009)
59	059 10 May 2008	Padgett, TravisTravis Padgett	9.96	21 years, 149 days	United States	North America	9.89 (2008)
60	060 18 May 2008	Thompson, RichardRichard Thompson	9.93	22 years, 346 days	Trinidad and Tobago	North America	9.82 (2014)
61	061 28 June 2008	Martin, RodneyRodney Martin	9.95	25 years, 189 days	United States	North America	9.95 (2008)
62	062 28 June 2008	Jelks, MarkMark Jelks	9.99	24 years, 79 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2008)	Yes
63	063 28 June 2008	Patton, DarvisDarvis Patton	9.89	30 years, 207 days	United States	North America	9.89 (2008)
64	064 28 June 2008	Williams, IvoryIvory Williams	9.94	23 years, 57 days	United States	North America	9.94 (2008)	Yes
65	065 22 July 2008	Carter, NestaNesta Carter	9.98	22 years, 285 days	Jamaica	North America	9.78 (2010)	Yes
66	066 15 August 2008	Martina, ChurandyChurandy Martina	9.99	24 years, 43 days	Netherlands Antilles/ Netherlands	North America/Europe	9.91 (2012)
67	067 16 August 2008	Frater, MichaelMichael Frater	9.97	25 years, 315 days	Jamaica	North America	9.88 (2011)
68	068 24 May 2009	Bailey, DanielDaniel Bailey	9.99	22 years, 257 days	Antigua and Barbuda	North America	9.91 (2009)
69	069 7 June 2009	Rodgers, MikeMike Rodgers	9.94	24 years, 44 days	United States	North America	9.85 (2011)	Yes
70	070 10 July 2009	Blake, YohanYohan Blake	9.96	19 years, 196 days	Jamaica	North America	9.69 (2012)	Yes
71	071 28 August 2009	Clarke, LeroneLerone Clarke	9.99	28 years, 52 days	Jamaica	North America	9.99 (2009)
72	072 9 July 2010	Lemaitre, ChristopheChristophe Lemaitre	9.98	20 years, 28 days	France	Europe	9.92 (2011)
73	073 19 August 2010	Kimmons, TrellTrell Kimmons	9.95	25 years, 37 days	United States	North America	9.95 (2010)
74	074 29 August 2010	Bailey, RyanRyan Bailey	9.95	21 years, 138 days	United States	North America	9.88 (2010)	Yes
75	075 29 August 2010	Forsythe, MarioMario Forsythe	9.99	24 years, 303 days	Jamaica	North America	9.95 (2010)
76	076 16 April 2011	Mullings, SteveSteve Mullings	9.90	28 years, 139 days	Jamaica	North America	9.80 (2011)	Yes
77	077 23 April 2011	Makusha, NgonidzasheNgonidzashe Makusha	9.97	24 years, 43 days	Zimbabwe	Africa	9.89 (2011)
78	078 4 June 2011	Ashmeade, NickelNickel Ashmeade	9.96	21 years, 58 days	Jamaica	North America	9.90 (2013)
79	079 4 June 2011	Bledman, KestonKeston Bledman	9.93	23 years, 88 days	Trinidad and Tobago	North America	9.86 (2012)
80	080 10 June 2011	Salaam, MookieMookie Salaam	9.97	21 years, 66 days	United States	North America	9.97 (2011)
81	081 30 June 2011	Ndure, Jaysuma SaidyJaysuma Saidy Ndure	9.99	26 years, 364 days	Norway	Europe	9.99 (2011)
82	082 6 June 2012	Adams, HarryHarry Adams	9.96	22 years, 192 days	United States	North America	9.96 (2012)
83	083 7 July 2012	Hyman, KemarKemar Hyman	9.95	22 years, 270 days	Cayman Islands	North America	9.95 (2012)
84	084 7 September 2012	Bailey-Cole, KemarKemar Bailey-Cole	9.97	20 years, 241 days	Jamaica	North America	9.92 (2015)
85	085 23 May 2013	Young, IsiahIsiah Young	9.99	23 years, 138 days	United States	North America	9.89 (2021)
86	086 5 June 2013	Locke, DentariusDentarius Locke	9.97	23 years, 175 days	United States	North America	9.96 (2013)
87	087 8 June 2013	Mvumvure, GabrielGabriel Mvumvure	9.98	25 years, 105 days	Zimbabwe	Africa	9.98 (2013)
88	088 21 June 2013	Silmon, CharlesCharles Silmon	9.98	21 years, 352 days	United States	North America	9.98 (2013)
89	089 13 July 2013	Dasaolu, JamesJames Dasaolu	9.91	25 years, 311 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.91 (2013)
90	090 13 July 2013	Vicaut, JimmyJimmy Vicaut	9.95	21 years, 136 days	France	Europe	9.86 (2015)
91	091 12 April 2014	Magakwe, SimonSimon Magakwe	9.98 A	27 years, 333 days	South Africa	Africa	9.98 (2014)	Yes
92	092 17 May 2014	Brown, KemarleyKemarley Brown	9.93	21 years, 301 days	Jamaica	North America	9.93 (2014)
93	093 8 June 2014	Ujah, ChijinduChijindu Ujah	9.96	20 years, 95 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.96 (2014)
94	094 13 June 2014	Bromell, TrayvonTrayvon Bromell	9.97	18 years, 338 days	United States	North America	9.76 (2021)
95	095 28 September 2014	Ogunode, FemiFemi Ogunode	9.93	23 years, 136 days	Qatar	Asia	9.91 (2015)	Yes
96	096 10 May 2015	Vaughn, ClaytonClayton Vaughn	9.93	22 years, 360 days	United States	North America	9.93 (2015)
97	097 17 May 2015	De Grasse, AndreAndre De Grasse	9.97	20 years, 188 days	Canada	North America	9.89 (2021)
98	098 17 May 2015	Robinson, BryceBryce Robinson	9.99	21 years, 185 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2015)
99	099 20 May 2015	Bracy, MarvinMarvin Bracy	9.95	21 years, 156 days	United States	North America	9.85 (2021)
100	100 30 May 2015	Bingtian, SuSu Bingtian	9.99	25 years, 274 days	China	Asia	9.83 (2021)
101	101 7 June 2015	Gemili, AdamAdam Gemili	9.97	21 years, 244 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.97 (2015)
102	102 25 June 2015	Batson, DiondreDiondre Batson	9.94	22 years, 347 days	United States	North America	9.94 (2015)
103	103 25 June 2015	Lee, BeejayBeejay Lee	9.99	22 years, 48 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2015)
104	104 25 June 2015	Butler, QuentinQuentin Butler	9.96	22 years, 280 days	United States	North America	9.96 (2015)
105	105 1 July 2015	Simbine, AkaniAkani Simbine	9.99	21 years, 283 days	South Africa	Africa	9.84 (2021)
106	106 5 July 2015	Bruintjies, HenrichoHenricho Bruintjies	9.97	21 years, 354 days	South Africa	Africa	9.97 (2015)
107	107 11 July 2015	Fisher, AndrewAndrew Fisher	9.94	23 years, 208 days	Jamaica	North America	9.94 (2015)
108	108 12 March 2016	Van Niekerk, WaydeWayde Van Niekerk	9.98 A	23 years, 241 days	South Africa	Africa	9.94 (2017)
109	109 23 April 2016	McLeod, OmarOmar McLeod	9.99	21 years, 364 days	Jamaica	North America	9.99 (2016)
110	110 2 June 2016	Webb, AmeerAmeer Webb	9.94	25 years, 75 days	United States	North America	9.94 (2016)
111	111 6 June 2016	Meïté, Ben YoussefBen Youssef Meïté	9.99	29 years, 208 days	Ivory Coast	Africa	9.96 (2016)
112	8 June 2016	Senoj-Jay Givans	9.96	22 years, 161 days	Jamaica	North America	9.96 (2016)
113	11 June 2016	Aaron Brown	9.96	24 years, 15 days	Canada	North America	9.96 (2016)
114	12 June 2016	Jak Ali Harvey	9.92	27 years, 39 days	Turkey	Europe	9.92 (2016)
115	24 June 2016	Rondel Sorrillo	9.99	30 years, 153 days	Trinidad and Tobago	North America	9.99 (2016)
116	116 3 July 2016	Coleman, ChristianChristian Coleman	9.95	20 years, 119 days	United States	North America	9.76 (2019)
117	30 July 2016	Joel Fearon	9.96	27 years, 293 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.96 (2016)
118	17 March 2017	Thando Roto	9.95	21 years, 172 days	South Africa	Africa	9.95 (2017)
119	15 April 2017	Ronnie Baker	9.99	23 years, 182 days	United States	North America	9.83 (2021)
120	22 April 2017	Odean Skeen	9.98	22 years, 237 days	Jamaica	North America	9.98 (2017)
121	13 May 2017	Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake	9.99	23 years, 41 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.99 (2017)
122	7 June 2017	Cameron Burrell	9.93	22 years, 269 days	United States	North America	9.93 (2017)
123	7 June 2017	Christopher Belcher	9.93	23 years, 129 days	United States	North America	9.93 (2017)
124	23 June 2017	Julian Forte	9.99	23 years, 357 days	Jamaica	North America	9.91 (2017)
125	6 July 2017	Ramil Guliyev	9.97	27 years, 38 days	Turkey	Europe	9.97 (2017)
126	9 September 2017	Yoshihide Kiryū	9.98	21 years, 268 days	Japan	Asia	9.98 (2017)
127	13 May 2018	Kendal Williams	9.99	22 years, 232 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2018)
128	25 May 2018	Jaylen Bacon	9.97	21 years, 293 days	United States	North America	9.97 (2018)
129	25 May 2018	Andre Ewers	9.98	22 years, 352 days	Jamaica	North America	9.98 (2018)
130	9 June 2018	Zharnel Hughes	9.91	22 years, 331 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.83 (2023)
131	9 June 2018	Noah Lyles	9.93	20 years, 326 days	United States	North America	9.83 (2023)
132	16 June 2018	Arthur Gue Cissé	9.94	21 years, 169 days	Ivory Coast	Africa	9.93 (2019)
133	19 June 2018	Xie Zhenye	9.97	24 years, 306 days	China	Asia	9.97 (2018)
134	22 June 2018	Filippo Tortu	9.99	20 years, 7 days	Italy	Europe	9.99 (2018)
135	9 July 2018	Barakat Al Harthi	9.97	30 years, 24 days	Oman	Asia	9.97 (2018)	Yes
136	21 July 2018	Tyquendo Tracey	9.96	25 years, 41 days	Jamaica	North America	9.96 (2018)
137	7 August 2018	Reece Prescod	9.96	22 years, 160 days	United Kingdom	Europe	9.93 (2022)
138	22 February 2019	Roberto Skyers	9.98	27 years, 102 days	Cuba	North America	9.98 (2019)
139	20 April 2019	Divine Oduduru	9.94	22 years, 195 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.86 (2019)
140	11 May 2019	Abdul Hakim Sani Brown	9.99	20 years, 66 days	Japan	Asia	9.97 (2019)
141	12 May 2019	Cravon Gillespie	9.97	22 years, 285 days	United States	North America	9.93 (2019)
142	5 June 2019	Mario Burke	9.98	22 years, 79 days	Barbados	North America	9.98 (2019)
143	20 July 2019	Yuki Koike	9.98	24 years, 68 days	Japan	Asia	9.98 (2019)
144	27 August 2019	Raymond Ekevwo	9.96	20 years, 156 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.96 (2019)
145	20 July 2020	Michael Norman	9.86	22 years, 230 days	United States	North America	9.86 (2020)
146	26 March 2021	Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku	9.97	23 years, 71 days	Ghana	Africa	9.90 (2022)
147	10 April 2021	Kyree King	9.97	26 years, 275 days	United States	North America	9.97 (2021)
148	17 April 2021	Jo'Vaughn Martin	9.94	21 years, 276 days	United States	North America	9.94 (2021)
149	24 April 2021	Fred Kerley	9.91	25 years, 352 days	United States	North America	9.76 (2022)
150	13 May 2021	Marcell Jacobs	9.95	26 years, 229 days	Italy	Europe	9.80 (2021)
151	14 May 2021	Tlotliso Leotlela	9.94	23 years, 2 days	South Africa	Africa	9.94 (2021)
152	6 June 2021	Ryota Yamagata	9.95	28 years, 361 days	Japan	Asia	9.95 (2021)
153	20 June 2021	Kenny Bednarek	9.96	22 years, 249 days	United States	North America	9.89 (2021)
154	20 June 2021	Micah Williams	9.91	19 years, 220 days	United States	North America	9.86 (2022)
155	31 July 2021	Enoch Adegoke	9.98	21 years, 145 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.98 (2021)
156	14 August 2021	Ferdinand Omurwa	9.96	25 years, 224 days	Kenya	Africa	9.77 (2021)
157	16 April 2022	Matthew Boling	9.98	21 years, 300 days	United States	North America	9.98 (2022)
158	16 April 2022	Davonte Burnett	9.99	22 years, 48 days	United States	North America	9.99 (2022)
159	23 April 2022	Joseph Paul Amoah	9.94	25 years, 101 days	Ghana	Africa	9.94 (2022)
160	30 April 2022	Letsile Tebogo	9.96	18 years, 327 days	Botswana	Africa	9.91 (2022)
161	21 May 2022	Oblique Seville	9.86	21 years, 66 days	Jamaica	North America	9.86 (2022)
162	11 June 2022	Cravont Charleston	9.98	24 years, 160 days	United States	North America	9.91 (2023)
163	12 June 2022	Ackeem Blake	9.95	20 years, 142 days	Jamaica	North America	9.89 (2023)
164	24 June 2022	Elijah Hall	9.98	27 years, 306 days	United States	North America	9.90 (2022)
165	24 June 2022	Emmanuel Matadi	9.98	31 years, 70 days	Liberia	Africa	9.98 (2022)
166	25 June 2022	Favour Ashe	9.99	20 years, 58 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.96 (2023)
167	3 July 2022	Yupun Abeykoon	9.96	27 years, 184 days	Sri Lanka	Asia	9.96 (2022)
168	3 July 2022	Reynier Mena	9.99	25 years, 224 days	Cuba	North America	9.99 (2022)
169	3 July 2022	Méba-Mickaël Zeze	9.99	28 years, 45 days	France	Europe	9.99 (2022)
170	29 March 2023	Bouwahjgie Nkrumie	9.99	19 years, 41 days	Jamaica	North America	9.99 (2023)
171	15 April 2023	Terrence Jones	9.91	20 years, 158 days	Bahamas	North America	9.91 (2023)
172	15 April 2023	Joseph Fahnbulleh	9.98	21 years, 216 days	Liberia	Africa	9.98 (2023)
173	26 May 2023	Udodi Onwuzurike	9.91	20 years, 117 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.91 (2023)
174	7 June 2023	Pjai Austin	9.89	22 years, 261 days	United States	North America	9.89 (2023)
175	7 June 2023	Cole Beck	9.97	24 years, 94 days	United States	North America	9.97 (2023)
176	7 June 2023	Godson Oghenebrume	9.96	20 years, 11 days	Nigeria	Africa	9.90 (2023)
177	7 June 2023	Shaun Maswanganyi	9.99	22 years, 126 days	South Africa	Africa	9.91 (2023)
178	9 June 2023	Courtney Lindsey	9.89	24 years, 203 days	United States	North America	9.89 (2023)
179	9 June 2023	Da'Marcus Fleming	9.97	21 years, 170 days	United States	North America	9.97 (2023)
180	2 July 2023	Emmanuel Eseme	9.97	29 years, 319 days	Cameroon	Africa	9.96 (2023)
181	6 July 2023	Rohan Watson	9.98	21 years, 68 days	Jamaica	North America	9.91 (2023)
182	6 July 2023	Kadrian Goldson	9.94	25 years, 240 days	Jamaica	North America	9.94 (2023)
183	6 July 2023	Kishane Thompson	9.91	21 years, 354 days	Jamaica	North America	9.85 (2023)
184	7 July 2023	Ryiem Forde	9.96	22 years, 44 days	Jamaica	North America	9.96 (2023)
185	28 July 2023	Issam Asinga	9.89	18 years, 211 days	Suriname	South America	9.89 (2023)
186	28 July 2023	Erik Cardoso	9.97	23 years, 147 days	Brazil	South America	9.97 (2023)
187	28 July 2023	Ronal Longa	9.99	19 years, 28 days	Colombia	South America	9.99 (2023)
188	9 September 2023	Felipe Bardi	9.96	24 years, 336 days	Brazil	South America	9.96 (2023)

Totals

By year
Year	No. of new athletes	Total legal sub-10s
1968	1	1
1977	1	1
1983	2	3
1984	1	4
1985	0	1
1986	1	1
1987	0	1
1988	1	9
1989	2	2
1990	0	2
1991	3	14
1992	3	6
1993	1	8
1994	1	16
1995	2	5
1996	1	24
1997	5	38
1998	2	34
1999	4	26
2000	3	15
2001	0	16
2002	4	16
2003	6	9
2004	1	33
2005	5	16
2006	3	24
2007	4	18
2008	10	53
2009	4	45
2010	4	36
2011	6	57
2012	3	61
2013	6	58
2014	5	32
2015	12	91
2016	10	60
2017	9	48
2018	11	60
2019	7	50
2020	1	6
2021	11	82
2022	13	78
2023	19	102

By country
Nation	No. of athletes
United States	70
Jamaica	27
Nigeria	14
United Kingdom	10
South Africa	7
Trinidad and Tobago	6
Canada	5
France	4
Ghana	4
Japan	4
Cuba	3
Bahamas	2
Barbados	2
China	2
Italy	2
Côte d'Ivoire	2
Liberia	2
Qatar	2
Turkey	2
Zimbabwe	2
Brazil	2
Antigua and Barbuda	1
Australia	1
Botswana	1
Cayman Islands	1
Kenya	1
Namibia	1
Netherlands Antilles	1
Norway	1
Oman	1
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1
Sri Lanka	1
Cameroon	1
Suriname	1
Colombia	1

By continent
Continent	No. of athletes
Africa	35
Asia	10
Europe	19
Oceania	1
North America	119
South America	4

Hand timed marks

The following sprinters all received a hand-timed mark of 9.9 seconds. All the runners held the world record simultaneously. However, the timing may not have been precise. (Note that Bob Hayes clocked a hand timed 9.9 seconds in the 1964 Olympic final, but his FAT 10.06 s was the official time, and it was given as “10.0” s.)

Sprinters who have broken the 10-second barrier with manual timing
Date first broken	Athlete	Nationality	No. of times broken
001 20 June 1968	Hines Jim Hines	United States	2
002 20 June 1968	Smith, Ronnie RayRonnie Ray Smith	United States	1
003 20 June 1968	Greene, CharlesCharles Greene	United States	1
004 21 June 1972	Williams, SteveSteve Williams	United States	4
005 1 July 1972	Hart, EddieEddie Hart	United States	1
006 1 July 1972	Robinson, ReyRey Robinson	United States	1
007 5 June 1975	Leonard, SilvioSilvio Leonard	Cuba	1
008 3 April 1976	Glance, HarveyHarvey Glance	United States	2
009 22 May 1976	Quarrie, DonDon Quarrie	Jamaica	1

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10-second barrier Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.