On Sunday, Usain Bolt gave athletics the leg-up it needed. At the World Championships in Beijing, Bolt beat American track star Justin Gatlin – who has twice been banned for doping – in the men’s 100 metres final.
Gatlin, unbeaten for 29 races, was the bookies’ favourite. The sprinters were neck and neck when, at 80 metres, a slight stumble by Gatlin allowed Bolt to pip the American by a hundredth of a second. Gatlin had run 100 metres quicker than Bolt’s winning time of 9.79 seconds five times this year already – but that meant nothing now.
Bolt has accumulated nine world championship titles – more than any other athlete in history – and his three 100 metres world titles bring him level with Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene. After performing his victory routine, Bolt admitted that this was his “hardest race”, while an emotional Steve Cram, the BBC commentator, suggested that this victory could be Bolt’s “finest day”. Sixty-six of the competitors at this year’s world championships have past doping offences, four of whom raced against Bolt in the 100 metres final. Cram could not hide his delight: “He’s saved his title. He’s saved his reputation,” he shrieked. “He may even have saved his sport.”