Improved training and practices Sprinting velocity is a function of step length and step frequency. Usain Bolt ran at 12.4 m/s in his quickest phase of his world record performance in Berlin in 2009. To run 100m in under nine seconds, a human's maximum velocity would need to be around 13.2m/s. No one has ever done this as no one else has even come close. The current world record is 9.58 seconds, set by American Justin Gatlin in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 2, 2019. If you subtract 0.04 seconds for each of the three allowed head-to-head comparisons with Gatlin, then the fastest possible time is 9.64 seconds. The average speed over 100m is 1020.1 ft/min (100 meters per minute). This means that to run 100 meters in under nine seconds, you must walk about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) per second. Gatlin's victory was controversial because multiple athletes were prevented from competing due to doping violations. However, even after these disqualifications, the remaining field was still faster than the previous record holder, American Michael Johnson, who ran 9.72 seconds in 1988. It may seem hard to believe but humans have never been able to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds. The closest anyone has come is 9.93 seconds, which is more than two full seconds slower than the fastest man in history.