Usain Bolt lit up London 2012 this weekend with a stunning performance in the 100 metre sprint final, and once again validated his title of the ‘most naturally gifted athlete that the world has ever seen’.

Following his incredible showing at the Olympics, researchers have produced this incredible visualisation showing us just how far Bolt is ahead of athletes of not just this generation, but also the top sprinters of yesteryear.

To put things into perspective, the video tells us that if Thomas Burke (gold medallist at the first modern Olympics in Athens) had been in the race Sunday night, he would have been over 18 metres away from the finishing line as Usain crossed it.

Perhaps more remarkably, the fastest teenage athletes in the world today could have won a bronze medal as recently as the 1980 Games in Moscow. Stunning stuff.