Former world champion Greene blames Lyles and others for Usain Bolt’s 100m record immortality

Sprints legend Usain Bolt remains untouched as the fastest man alive, with his 100m world record now standing for 15 years.

The sprint legend smashed his previous world record at the 2009 World Championship when he crossed the finish line in an unprecedented 9.58 seconds, which has been unmatched ever since.

Not only does Bolt sit at the top of the event's all-time leaderboard, he still holds the three fastest 100m times on record, despite retiring from athletics in 2017.

According to Sydney 2000 gold medallist Maurice Greene, the current crop of sprinters is entirely to blame for their lack of challenge to Bolt's record.

The legendary US track athlete, who set a 9.79-second 100m world record in 1999, has criticised today's athletes for failing to take advantage of improved technology to clock faster times.

In an interview on Jamaican ex-sprinter Asafa Powell's YouTube channel, Greene lay into Bolt's successors.

He said: “I’ve always said, as time progresses, man progresses, technology progresses, and people get faster.

“With the technology and the shoes that they’ve got now, and the tracks that they’re running on, there's no way in the world you can tell me they shouldn't have run faster than they did last night.

“If that was [me] man, I probably would have run 9.50 seconds or something on this track. Like, come on!”

Greene then accused today's stars of caring more about their social media influence than developing their craft.

The 50-year-old continued: “They're so caught up with clicking this, getting this click and not putting the focus into the progression of the race and trying to perfect their race.

“That's why I don't think we've seen a progression since Bolt. Bolt put it out there, but now it's like nobody's getting close to that.

“But why aren't you getting close to that? Because the shoes are better than his, the tracks are faster.

“So things should be coming on, but [instead] they’re worried about: ‘Oh, give me this click’, and doing this and that.”

While various new challengers have emerged in the years since Bolt's retirement, none have managed to threaten his spot at the top.

The top five times on record all came before his retirement, with closest rivals Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake, clocking their best efforts in 2009 and 2012 respectively.

Current Olympic champion Noah Lyles claimed gold at the Paris Games with a personal best of 9.79 seconds, which is the 12th fastest time in history, matching Greene's 1999 record.

US star Lyles has previously spoken of his intention to overtake Bolt at the top sooner rather than later.

Appearing on American radio show The Dan Patrick Show following his Games success, he said of setting a new world's best time: "I'm trying to get it done as soon as possible."

Despite this, however, Bolt himself has shared his confidence that his 2009 record will continue to stand the test of time.

Speaking to talkSPORT in June, when asked if he felt it would be broken at the Paris Games, he replied: "Not now. I've not seen the talent yet to get there."

Regardless of whether Lyles manages to surpass Bolt's long-standing record, he still has some way to go to match his achievements.