Report: Men's 100m Final - IAAF World Championships

Published by IAAF on August 23, 2015

The sound you did not hear was the sound of Usain Bolt’s empire come crashing down.

On Sunday night Bolt won his third World Championships 100m title in the stadium where it all began at the 2008 Olympic Games.

No world record this time – it was a moderate 9.79, his fastest of the year but slowest of all his championship victories. No show-boating at the finish. No time to make even the slightest mistake as he had with a stumble in the first few strides of his semi-final.

He faced the toughest race of his career. Justin Gatlin was on top of the world list, undefeated and seemingly invincible. In contrast to Bolt’s semi-final, Gatlin had won his with consummate ease in 9.77. No fewer than five times this year has he run faster than Sunday night’s winning time.

It loomed as Bolt’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ moment, the people’s champion – he got a greater reception even than China’s Su Bingtian – against a mean opponent many of us thought he could not beat.