Yet Bolt had just won a race in 9.79 seconds, more than two-tenths slower than the world record.
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The main event of possibly the competition was won by Usain Bolt, taking the 100 meters race once again with a 9.79 seconds sprint, barely beating the controversial Justin Gatlin.
Bronze was shared between youngsters Andre De Grasse and Trayvon Bromell who finished with an identical time of 9.92 seconds.
Usain Bolt has saved his sport from its own grubby self.
Bolt’s win is also vindication for the preparation he takes on under the astute guidance of his Mills.
With all three competitors pretty even in the 800, the biggest rivalry at this year’s world championships could well be for silver.
The Jamaican had struggled for form and fitness all season, stumbled his way through the semi-finals and got nowhere close to the times that his rival Justin Gatlin had been posting.
“I’ve only not worn the bow one time and she’s like, ‘I couldn’t even see you”.
Speaking in a news conference, Bolt said: “How important was it that I won?” “Me, I was the chaser, so it was different”. “I know my abilities, I just went out and ran my race”, he said. “It’s a simple thing”. When he was introduced, Bolt covered his eyes with his hands before opening them and smiling; Gatlin shot imaginary bullets with his fingers before roaring into the camera.
“I stumbled in the last five metres, my arms got a little flaily”, he said.
He beat favourite Justin Gatlin, only one-hundreth of a second seperating the two.
Farah, who came through the youth and junior ranks alongside Bolt, has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent months, with his American coach Alberto Salazar accused of violating several anti-doping rules.
For almost two years athletics had waited for this track-and-field super fight – with Gatlin having gone into the final with an unbeaten streak that stretched back over 28 races and Bolt also unbeaten over 100m – except when easing down in heats – since being outrun by Gatlin in Rome in June 2013. Both 20, they finished 1-2 in the NCAA 100-meter championship this summer.
Despite all the worries and concerns expressed all around, Bolt said he had never doubted himself. For me, it’s just about hard work and dedication. “Victory goes to the right person for me”.
For the first time in world-championships history, advancing to the final of the 100 required a sub-10-second performance.
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The 28-year-old Jamaican has shied away from suggestions that he was racing at these worldwide Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships as a defender of the sport’s values against an American opponent who has been sanctioned twice for doping. American veteran Mike Rodgers rounded out the top five at 9.94. Su, cheered to the echo, was ninth and last in 10.06, but it has been a year of constant advance for the Chinese sprinter.
