Remember when Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt broke all those world records at the Beijing Olympics without appearing to break much of a sweat? Turns out he was a bit of a slowpoke back then. During the 100-m final at the track-and-field world championships this summer in Berlin, Bolt broke away from the field at the 30-m mark. In Beijing he showboated to the finish; here, with American Tyson Gay charging hard behind him, Bolt didn't put on the brakes or start celebrating before he crossed the finish line. Bolt's time, 9.58 sec., smashed the 100-m mark he set in Beijing by 0.11 sec., the largest world-record improvement since electronic timing began in 1968. With the 200-m competition starting two days later, Bolt didn't have much time to celebrate. "I doubt I will get a world record in the 200," he said. Liar! Bolt finished the final in 19.19 sec., beating his own historic time once again.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists