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Bolt quashes Gatlin's coup attempt in Beijing

Last Updated 23 August 2015, 15:14 IST
Usain Bolt brutally ended two-time doping offender Justin Gatlin's attempt to controversially usurp him as the king of sprinting when he blazed to the 100 metres world title today.

The towering Jamaican roared past Gatlin at the halfway mark to retain his crown in a season's best of 9.79 seconds, with his American rival taking silver just one hundredth behind on a pulsating evening at the world championships in Beijing.

Before their blockbuster clash, Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill completed a fairytale comeback by winning her second heptathlon world title, helped in no small part by an astonishing meltdown by fellow Briton Katarina Johnson- Thompson.

But the night belonged to Bolt, who had played a high- stakes game of poker in the heats, running well within himself as Gatlin, dressed in a blood-red lycra suit, posted eye- popping times of 9.83 and 9.77 to seemingly gain the psychological edge.

Gatlin, the sport's pantomime villain after twice serving doping bans, looked stunned at the finish as Bolt danced and struck a gunslinger's pose and a Bob Marley tune pumped out around the Bird's Nest stadium, where he shook the world at the 2008 Olympics.

"I came out relaxed, no stress, and brought it home," said Bolt, who turned 29 on Friday. "It is all about running the race and getting it done. My aim is to be number one until I retire."

Gatlin, 33, was philosophical after tasting defeat for the first time in 29 races, a streak dating back two years.

"I feel good," he shrugged. "It was a great race, I just got nibbed at the line by the great Usain."

Behind Bolt and Gatlin, American Trayvon Bromell and Canada's Andre de Grasse shared bronze after recording a time of 9.92 in a final in which four of the nine men had returned from doping suspension, including Americans Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers, along with Jamaican Asafa Powell.

New world athletics boss Sebastian Coe will privately be breathing a sigh of relief that Olympic champion Bolt repelled Gatlin's challenge after the sport was plunged into crisis by allegations of widespread doping.
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(Published 23 August 2015, 13:47 IST)

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