On 20 August 2008, Usain Bolt won the Olympic 200m final in Beijing. His time was 19.30. It broke a world record that had stood for twelve years.
A mark held since 1996 finally falls
The record belonged to Michael Johnson, set at the 1996 Games. Bolt arrived at the Beijing final having already taken the 100m title. Over the longer sprint, he ran 19.30 and left the old mark behind.
The win came at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, on the sport's biggest stage. It confirmed the young Jamaican as the fastest man over both sprint distances at a single Games.
The Beijing double that began a decade of dominance
The 200m gold gave Bolt the Olympic sprint double at his first Games. It was the start of a run that would define track sprinting for years.
A year later in Berlin, he lowered the 200m record again to 19.19, holding both sprint world records at once. Both still stand today. That double edge of speed set him apart from every rival.
He defended the Olympic 200m title in London in 2012, then again in Rio in 2016 in 19.78. That made three straight Olympic 200m golds, a feat no other sprinter has matched. The world titles followed the same pattern, with wins in Moscow, Beijing and beyond.
By the end of his career he had claimed eight Olympic golds and eleven world titles. He anchored Jamaica to relay gold at three Games, closing his Olympic story in Rio. It all traced back to that night in Beijing, when a twelve-year-old record fell.
