Usain Bolt proves why we should never, ever doubt his speed

Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion has not been crushed within the 100m or 200m in six main global championships going again to 2007, though he was disqualified from the shorter race on the Deagu world championships in 2011.

One of athletics’ nights to remember has seen Usain Bolt claim his third 100 metres World Championship title, edging out Justin Gatlin by a solitary hundredth-of-a-second – but Mark English and Thomas Barr both bowed out of their respective semi-finals.

Yet when it mattered most Bolt delivered, prompting track legend Steve Cram to declare: “He’s saved his title, he’s saved his reputation, he may have even saved his sport”.

“I tried to take the race on by the scruff of the neck yesterday and I could really feel the lactic over the last hundred metres”. He faced tough resistance from American Justin Gatlin. “I’m race rusty, so it was just a sloppy race, but the key thing is that I won and that’s what I did”.

But Gatlin, whose reputation in the sport is still in tatters after his drugs ban, settled for silver with a time of 9.80, as Bolt added another title to his name while also ending Gatlin’s 28-race unbeaten run at the Bird’s Nest stadium.

But as they approached the line, Gatlin lost his balance while Bolt kept his nerve.

Yet Bolt had just won a race in 9.79 seconds, more than two-tenths slower than the world record.

The win comes near the end of a particularly hard season for Bolt, who struggled with injuries and inconsistencies and seemed to be off the pace set by Gatlin all year long.

“Just remember I am more than four years”. And therefore I am pushing myself and pushing myself.

“I’ve been through a lot this season, and Justin has been running fast”.

On a day that began with the IAAF President Elect, Sebastian Coe, presenting Mo Farah with his 10,000m gold medal, another home London 2012 champion, Jessica Ennis-Hill, regained the world heptathlon title she won in 2009 with a solid gold display of competiveness in her first major championships since the last Olympics. And this time, it was Gatlin who tripped in the race.

Gatlin refused to answer any questions about the greater significance of Bolt’s victory.

That was American athletics great Michael Johnson’s view of Bolt’s latest 100 metres world championship victory in Beijing on Sunday.

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.

Gatlin simply stated “I’m thankful” when asked repeatedly for his thoughts on the sport willing him not to win.