Claim: Jamaican runner Usain Bolt is the first person simultaneously to hold both the 100 meter dash world record and the 200 meter dash world record since fully automatic time became mandatory.

Usain St Leo Bolt , OJ , CD -LRB- -LSB- ˈjuːseɪn -RSB- born 21 August 1986 -RRB- is a Jamaican sprinter . He is the first person to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records since fully automatic time became mandatory . He also holds the world record as a part of the 4 × 100 metres relay . He is the reigning world and Olympic champion in these three events . Due to his unprecedented dominance and achievements in sprint competition , he is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time .   An eight-time Olympic gold medalist , Bolt won the 100 m , 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay at three consecutive Olympic Games , although he subsequently lost one of the gold medals -LRB- as well as the world record set therein -RRB- nine years after the fact due to teammate Nesta Carter 's disqualification for doping offences . He gained worldwide popularity for his double sprint victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in world record times . Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive olympics -LRB- 2008 , 2012 and 2016 -RRB- , a feat referred to as the `` triple double . ''   An eleven-time World Champion , he won consecutive World Championship 100 m , 200 m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015 , with the exception of a 100 m false start in 2011 . He is the most successful athlete of the World Championships and was the first athlete to win three titles in both the 100 m and 200 m at the competition .   Bolt improved upon his first 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 -- the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing . He has twice broken the 200 metres world record , setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009 . He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 metres relay world records , with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012 . Bolt 's most successful event is the 200 m , with three Olympic and four World titles . The 2008 Olympics was his international debut over 100 m ; he had earlier won numerous 200 m medals -LRB- including 2007 World Championship silver -RRB- and holds the world under-20 and world under-18 records for the event .   His achievements as a sprinter have earned him the media nickname `` Lightning Bolt '' , and his awards include the IAAF World Athlete of the Year , Track & Field Athlete of the Year , and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year -LRB- four times -RRB- . Bolt has stated that he intends to retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships .