Bolt On Fire | Jamaican becomes the fastest man on Earth
The 21-year-old broke the previous record of 9.74 set by compatriot Asafa Powell in Rieti, Italy, on September 9, 2007.
With a favorable wind of 1.7m/sec, Bolt finished ahead of 100m and 200m World Champion Tyson Gay of the United States (9.85) and American Darvis Patton (10.07).
On a night when thunderstorms and the threat of lightning forced a 45 minute disruption to the action - and that after the start of the meet was delayed for an hour - Bolt delivered the real jolt of the night.
The 1.95m tall Jamaican immediately became the man to beat as the athletics season builds toward the Beijing Olympics in August, with Gay, Powell and the rest of the world's sprinters relegated to the role of challengers.
"This world record doesn't mean a thing unless I get the Olympic gold medal, or win at the World Championships," he said.
Bolt, the 200m world championships silver medallist, had set the athletics world buzzing on May 3, when he clocked 9.76 - then the second-fastest time in history - at a meeting in Kingston.
With that performance he appeared poised to live up to his earlier credentials, which included world junior records and status as the youngest man to reach a World Championship sprint final, at Helsinki in 2005.
While Bolt is now front and center in the 100m reckoning, he said the 200m remains his passion.
"I always say the 200 is my favorite race. That's not going to change," said Bolt, who is considered by many a likely threat to Michael Johnson's 200m world record of 19.32 set in Atlanta in 1996.
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