Usain Bolt can break the world record with the help of altitude and the wind
Imagine the following situation. The 100 metres finals in the London Olympic Games. The Jamaican Usain Bolt wins. Up to this point everything sounds normal except for the fact that he would break his own record again with a time of 9.48 seconds. According to the New Zealand researchers, this would be his record if there were a 2 metre per second tailwind (maximum allowable wind) and the race took place at an altitude of 999 metres. This record will of course have to wait because London lies just 24 metres above sea level. Scientists are sure though that environment conditions affect sports performance even to a great extent.
On the 16 August 2008 the fastest man in the world, the Jamaican Usain Bolt, took a first world record in the Olympic Games in Beijing, China after running the 100 metres in 9.69 seconds. One year later during the world championships in Berlin, Germany he broke his own record with 9.58 seconds.
Independently of the athlete's talent and training, there are various factors that could influence Usain's records: altitude below or above 1000 metres above sea level; the venue, whether the race takes place indoors or outdoors; the type of competition (world, Olympic or other): or whether an electronic timer or stopwatch is used, etc. In his case, the difference between the two races was the wind.
On the day that Bolt made his first record in the Olympic Games there was no wind whereas in the world championships, there was a tailwind with a speed of 0.9 metres per second. "Was the new record helped along by the wind?" questions Steve Hollings, lead author of the study that was published in the European Journal of Sport Science. He also works in the Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand of the Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand).
In their search for the answer, the team employed an empirical approach in order to estimate the effects of wind speed, altitude and other environmental factors in 44,000 results from 619 male athletes. The study allowed for the identification of additional environmental and other factors such the competition level, the time-keeping method and if the athletes competes inside or outside a venue.
According to performance calculations in Berlin, the Jamaican would have to have run 100 metres in 9.62 seconds without wind. "The wind therefore improved the record by 0.04 seconds," as outlined by Hollings. But, the scientists go even further and suggest that Bolt could beat his own record again with 9.48 seconds as long as the speed of the tailwind is 2 metres per second and the race takes place at an altitude of 999 metres. For now though, the London Olympic Games do not meet all of these requirements.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120802101200.htm
Here is a video on Usain Bolt in the Berlin Games, whereby he broke the world record:
Reflections:
I was amazed and stunned at the same time after reading this article. I thought that sprinting was just about your leg power and how fast you could go, and never expected things like the altitude and the wind to affect the timing of the sprint. Calculations have shown me that a tailwind of 2 metres per second could provide an advantage of 0.07 to 0.09 seconds during the 100 metres race. But this is certainly not the case in Bolt’s record runs. In Berlin his 9.58 s time benefited from only a modest 0.9 m/s tailwind and in Beijing there was no wind, so he has a lot more still to gain from advantageous wind conditions. Many years ago, I worked out how the best 100m times are changed by wind. A 2 m/s tailwind is worth about 0.11 s compared to a no-wind performance, and a 0.9 m/s tailwind 0.06 s, at a low-altitude site. At altitudes, the athletes could withstand shorter races because air resistance is lower. 
In Usain Bolt's case, I feel that he has to improve on his reaction time. As observed in the recent London Olympics, I noticed that he was trailing behind the other athletes at the start of the race. It was only halfway through that he managed to overtake his competitors to claim the gold medal. However, when he was sprinting, he was already at optimum speed , and scientist have shown that his speed was the fastest that anyone could go. Thus, he needs to work on his reaction time if he wants to beat his world record set in the Berlin Games.
Wind can also aid Usain Bolt in setting a new world record. If he competes in low-altitude areas, he would be able to gain more help from the wind, and thus being able to set a world record.
I feel that this a good example how sciences and mathematics can relate to sports in everyday lives. Even minor differences, such as the altitude and wind speed, could also affect the timing of the 100m sprint. Thus, science also plays an important part in our everyday lives and helps us to analyze and make calculations, improving ourselves, In Usain Bolt's case, scientist has already helped him to analyze his performance, and thus he could continue to work his way and improve based on these analysis to break his world record:)
