12 Years Apart, Usain Bolt’s Friend Celebrates Historic Diamond League Record

Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake used to be a regular sight in all major track and field events. Arguably, their best outing was in the 2012 London Olympics, where they overcame the USA’s challenge in the 4x100m relay to place themselves in history. Usain Bolt‘s last leg run proved to be heavy on the opponent and glitter to all the track and field fans on that day. However, on certain occasions, Yohan Blake made no stone unturned to be called the next Usain Bolt. 

Yohan Blake’s Diamond League outings have witnessed some of his best attempts to touch Usain Bolt. Recently Yohan himself unfathomed one such record of him that was almost a ‘Usain Bolt’. 

Yohan Blake shares his past record that remains only second to Usain Bolt’s 

2023’s Diamond League proved to be a graveyard of many past sprinting records. However, Yohan Blake’s 200-meter record made a survivor out of that. The former world champion took to his IG to post that record. Yohan Blake made the record for sprinting 200 meters in just 19.26 seconds in the Brussels Diamond League in 2011. That timing came as the fastest that year and the second-best timing in the history of 200-meter sprinting, just after Usain Bolt’s 19.19 seconds. 

Incidentally, Noah Lyles, the six-time world champion, made his best attempt to touch Yohan’s record in 200 meters in the 2022 World Championship in front of his home crowd. But his timing was a little short. However, in the last two years, he has touched the 19-second glory in 200 meters several times. 

The camaraderie between them 

The first occasion when Bolt shared a space with Yohan Blake in the same team was in 2008. They were training partners then. Three years later, in the 2011 World Championship in Daegu, Yohan clinched the gold in 100 meters in the absence of Usain Bolt. The Beast’s much-famed Diamond League record came just two weeks after that, in Brussels. All these achievements came when Yohan was 22 years old. 

Read more: Legendary Track and Field Athlete From Jamaica Reveals Shocking News in Pursuit of 2024 Paris Olympics Dream

Later, before the 2012 London Olympics, Yohan defeated Bolt in the Jamaican trials for the Olympics. Both defeats came in 100-meter and 200-meter sprinting. However, Usain Bolt retired from sprinting after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Yohan is planning to take his retirement after the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now. it’s time to see how he delivers before his ‘last dance’.   

Watch this story: Reminiscing His Vacation Spree In Jamaica, World Champion Noah Lyles Makes A Special Appeal Ahead Of World Athletics Awards