Jamaican sprinting superstar Usain Bolt stormed to victory in the 100m Final at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on Sunday evening to claim his 4th world individual title. It's only his second 100m title; the usually unflappable star was disqualified for a false start 2 years ago, and the victory was less comprehensive than his original victory 4 years ago;
winning in a time of 9.77 seconds from former drug cheat Justin Gatlin, who clocked an impressive 9.85 seconds. Bolt had a fairly decent start, but it was Gatlin who powered from the blocks, and it was 60m before Bolt had passed the American, and 20m from the line before it looked assured for the Jamaican, with Nesta Carter following the top 2 home to sneak the bronze. Gatlin was the only non-Jamaican in the top 5, as Carter snuck in with 9.95 seconds to take his bronze medal, while fellow Jamaicans Kemar Bailey-Cole and Nickel Ashmeade came in 4th and 5th, both clocking 9.98 seconds. American Mike Rodgers ran 10.04 for 6th place, while the fastest man in Europe this year, British sprinter James Dasaoulu, came in last with 10.21, behind Cristophe Lemaitre of France, who ran 10.04.
It's been a torrid summer for male sprinting, with the fastest man up until today Tyson Gay caught not once, but twice, for using performance-enhancing substances, only hours before it was revealed that former World Champion Asafa Powell had tested positive as well. Both sprinters face lengthy and costly bans from the sport, but it is the sport itself which has suffered, seen through a plethora of empty seats in Moscow, and an almost eerie lack of supporters watching the women's marathon on the streets of Moscow last Saturday.