Watch: Usain Bolt's 100m record broken on gameshow

It was always going to take something special to beat Usain Bolt's unfathomable 100m record, but sprint rival Justin Gatlin has recruited a secret weapon ahead of their showdown in Rio this summer.

The 34-year-old smashed Bolt's 9.58 time set at the Berlin World Championships in 2009 on Japanese TV show Kasupe!

However, Gatlin was backed by a wind machine blasting 20mph gusts down the track as he hurtled towards the finish line in 9.45 seconds.

The time wouldn't have counted had the wind been natural, with the huge tail-wind more than four times the legal limit for competition.

But that didn't stop the assembled Japanese crowd on the sidelines from letting out squeals and jumping to their feet and clapping the American.

Gatlin, whose personal best over the distance is 9.74 seconds, played along - handing out high-fives on the TV show.

The American returned from a four-year doping ban in 2010 and has emerged as Bolt's main rival in recent years.

Last year's World Championships in Beijing were dominated with the Bolt vs Gatlin build up after the 34-year-old had dominated the sprinting season.

But the Jamaican continued his superiority at the major events stretching back to the 2008 Olympics in the same stadium by finishing ahead of the 34-year-old in the 100m final before crushing him over 200m.

But the American is confident he will finally get the better of Bolt at the Olympics in Rio. 'I'm going to win. We are bringing it [ the gold medal] back to the USA,' Gatlin told TMZ Sports last week.

'We are gonna bring it back to the USA, to LA to New York. We are going on a tour around the country with it around my neck like a gold chain.'

Bolt, who usually prefers to do his talking on the track, appeared to respond on his Instagram account just a few days later.

'Keep talking and I will keep working hard #Foreverfaster #SecuringTheLegacy #Blessed,' the world record holder over 100 and 200m wrote.

Bolt will be chasing his seventh, eighth and ninth Olympic gold medals in Rio this summer, after claiming three at both of the last two games in London and Beijing.

-DAILY MAIL