23-year-old American athlete Sam Blaskowski has broken an unusual (and completely unofficial) record: after running 100m in 9.89 seconds, he has become the fastest white man in the world. While obviously not an official title, fans have been quick to find out that his mark, which is the tied for the second fastest mark in the world in 2026, makes him the 54th fastest man in the world.
The first 54 in the list of fastest men at 100m are all black men, famously led by Usain Bolt (who ran 100m at 9.58 seconds in 2009), except for the Chinese Su Bingtian, ranked 22, who run 9.83 seconds in the Tokyo 2020 semi-finals. Blaskowski enters in a shared 54th place of all-time with 9.89 seconds, also sharing the second place for fastest time in 2026 with Collen Kebinatshipi, from Bostwana, and Kayinsola Ajayi from Nigeria.
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Perhaps what's more surprising about this record is that Sam Blaskowski is a relatively unknown athlete, participating in NCAA Division III competitions (college level), breaking his personal best at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee. Before last weekend, his best time was 10.05 seconds in 2025.
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On his personal X account, to barely 500 followers, he celebrated his achievement. "They call me BLAST-KOWSKI for a reason! New PB in the 100m. Breaking 10 wasn't just the goal it became an obsession. Years of sacrifice, hard work, discipline & belief all came together on the track. Thank you all for the support, just getting this career started".
In short, a very different context to the previous "fastest white man", the Frenchman Christophe Lemaitr, who achieved his best record of 9.92 seconds in 100 meters in July 2011, when he was two years younger than Blaskowski, and had already won several gold medals at European Championships (he went on to to win two bronze Olympic medals in 2012 and 2014).