On the day of Usain Bolt’s last 100-meter race, we gave 14 million fans around the world the chance to run along with him.

To do it, we created 41 unique illustrations, one for each step he took in his 9.58 second long world record race, each crafted to symbolize an important step in his career.

Then we hacked Instagram’s story functionality by uploading all of the art to create the platform’s first digital, race-able flipbook, challenging fans around the world to move their fingers as fast as Usain Bolt moved his feet.

So by the time Usain had hung up his track spikes, we had turned a race of the 8 fastest sprinters on earth into a victory lap of 14 million people, all there to celebrate each incredible step of Usain Bolt’s career with him.

In his world-record 100-meter race, Usain Bolt took 41 steps in 9.58 seconds. So to celebrate both his speed and his incredible career achievements, we collaborated with UK-based design collective, ILOVEDUST and South Africa-based Bewilder, to create 41 unique pieces of art, each representative of a pivotal moment in Usain’s career.

Each piece was also drawn at a different point in Usain’s stride, so when strung together, his body would animate into a full-on sprint.

On the day of his last 100-meter race, we uploaded all 41 pieces of art to Gatorade’s Instagram in the exact sequence of his career, from start to finish.

When compiled together through the “stories” function, the 41 individual pieces of art transformed into the first-ever Instagram digital flipbook animation.

Then we challenged the world to see if they could tap through it as fast as Usain could move his feet.

This was one of the first-ever Instagram story ads that captured more than 14 million impressions with an average view time of 25 seconds.

In 2008, Usain Bolt took 41 steps to run 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. It was the fastest any human had ever moved their legs. But when he announced his final race, Gatorade’s teen athlete audience had never known a world before Usain. To celebrate the retirement of the fastest man alive, we wanted to help our audience fully appreciate Usain’s entire history-making career. To do so, Gatorade created 41 unique pieces of art, one for each step taken in that record-setting 100-meter race, individually designed to represent 41 different milestones in his epic career.

We knew Instagram could provide both immediacy and impact for our teen audience, but celebrating Bolt’s whole career on a platform known for still images and singular moments posed a challenge. To bring his journey to life, we posted the 41 pieces of art to Instagram “stories” and created the first-ever Instagram digital flipbook animation.