The one incredible statistic that cements Usain Bolt's status as the Greatest of All Time

The farewell race for Usain Bolt did not end on a positive note in the last tournament of his glittering career as he was forced to settle for bronze in the 100m event, which he had ruled over for many years, and in the 4x100m relay final, he pulled up with a cramp and could not finish.

Still, he has been hailed as the greatest athlete to have ever lived as eight Olympic and 11 World Championship golds speak for themselves. However, this is not the only reason for himself being rated the 'greatest ever'.

If you list down the 30 fastest 100m timings ever clocked, the list includes five names, which read Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell. However, the surprising fact about the list was that 19 of these 30 timings have been ruled out to due to cases of doping. And the rest? All 11 of them belong to one man, Usain Bolt.

The fastest 100m times ever. Those caught doping struck out in red. pic.twitter.com/gBGmj9VwLr

— Jon Birchall (@jonbir90) August 5, 2017

The eight-time Olympic gold medalist who is also known as 'Lightning Bolt' has never been involved in a single doping scandal in his entire sporting career. In fact, his Olympic medal tally would have been nine instead of eight had his relay teammate Nesta Carter not been involved in doping.

On the other hand, from Ben Johnson in 1988 to Justin Gatlin in 2015, a number of world class sprinters have been made to bow down in shame due to their off-field acts.

It is not just the spirit of sportsmanship that has worked for Bolt. Despite never taking performance enhancing drugs, he has the three fastest 100m timings to his name even if the names involved in doping are not struck out. The world record of 9.58 seconds at Berlin in 2009 and the Olympic record of 9.63 seconds at London in 2008 may take decades to be broken without any unfair means. The only person legitimately second to Bolt is Maurice Greene who clocked 9.79 seconds in the 1999 IAAF World Championship.

At the same time, he holds the world record in 200 m as well. Running 200 m in less than 19.19 seconds is a humongous task to overcome for any athlete in future. Despite of the bittersweet ending to his last tournament Bolt has set an incredible example not just for athletes but for every sportsperson that one can be the best solely on the basis of hard work and play with a clean image in the entire sporting career.