Usain Bolt rode to the rescue of his beleaguered sport once again as he dashed Justin Gatlin’s hopes of 100 metres gold at the World Championships in Beijing.
The Jamaican lived up to his billing as the saviour of athletics as he held off the challenge of two-time drug cheat Gatlin to win in 9.79 seconds.
The 33-year-old American, the sport’s number one villain, especially in the wake of the doping scandals of recent weeks, had to settle for silver in 9.80secs.
Steve Cram, in commentary on the BBC, said: “He’s saved his title, he’s saved his reputation, he may have even saved his sport.”
A Gatlin win in its blue-riband event was the result athletics feared and it looked likely after the semi-finals where Gatlin clocked 9.77s and Bolt only scraped a win after an awful start.
But the world record holder, the sport’s leading man, the self-styled legend, knows how to deliver when the pressure is really on.
This was his fastest time of the year and the win took his tally of.individual global titles to 10.
American Trayvon Bromell and Canada’s Andre de Grasse each took a bronze after posting the same time – 9.911.