When Jamaica’s Usain Bolt made a prophecy of his name and set the world record in the 100-meter dash with a 9.72-second time recently, it seemed to dwarf the sprinters of the past.

But is the fastest also the greatest of all time?

Today’s sprinters benefit from wind-resistant uniforms that let them carve a hole in the air, gulp legal nutritional supplements, run on rubberized tracks with great shock absorption and energy return, wear shoes as light as the tape their chests break, study videotape of their starts as avidly as NFL quarterbacks peruse defenses, and lift a foundry of iron to sustain their speed better.

The “silent” starting gun sends an electronic impulse, registering as a bang, to loudspeakers behind each lane. Outside-lane sprinters lost .03 seconds as the sound of a real pistol crack traveled to them.

Cleveland’s Harrison Dillard, an Olympic gold medalist in the 100 and 110 hurdles, idolized Jesse Owens, who, like him, went to East Tech High School. Dillard, 84, says the yardsticks for greatness are pressure performances and longevity of records.

The three fastest men Dillard saw were Owens, Carl Lewis and Bob Hayes. Each has a claim on being the greatest ever.

Owens was a black man competing in Adolf Hitler’s Germany when he won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His best 100 time was a hand-clocked 10.2. According to international rules, it would be corrected to 10.44 for automatic timing.

Owens’ open long jump record lasted 25 years, two more than Bob Beamon’s altitude-aided mark. The long jump is a function of speed, particularly for Owens. He was not technically advanced, tucking his legs under him and sailing, rather than hitch-kicking.

Hayes ran 10-flat in the 100 final at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics on a cinder track. His anchor leg in the 4×100 relay is, said Dillard, the fastest he ever saw any human being run. Conservative estimates for the flying-start leg were 8.9.

Hayes ran when starting blocks were used. Owens did not. “Jesse dug a hole in the track with a trowel and had to pull himself out of it. With blocks, you can run at your top level quicker,” said Dillard.

With nine Olympic gold medals, Lewis embodied sustained brilliance. He never held a long jump world record, but he still should.

In the 1982 Olympic Sports Festival, Lewis erupted off the takeoff board in the greatest unrecognized performance in track and field history. His jump was ruled a foul, although his spikes left no mark on the Plasticine strip used to detect infractions. The sand was swept before it could be measured. “I was there,” said Dillard. “It was 30 feet and maybe two or three more inches.”

Had Hayes not signed with the Dallas Cowboys, he might have run four years later, with timing to the hundredth of a second, on a synthetic track, at altitude, in Mexico City. A 9.90 was feasible.

Dillard said Owens gets at least a half-second boost from a modern surface, .02-.03 from blocks, and more fractions from the other improvements. Doing the math on 10.44, that’s in the 9.80s.

We remember Owens for his iconic victory over the most pernicious political philosophy ever. As a sprinter, though, he brought his own lightning. “Jesse was the greatest,” said Dillard.