Bolt shows he's still world's fastest man - 'it's always great to be back'

 

Jamaica's Usain Bolt wins the 100 metres final at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

Photograph by: Olivier Morin, AFP, Getty Images , The Associated Press

Usain Bolt restored order to the world of sprinting. Reclaiming the 100-metre world championship gold he lost through a false start in South Korea two years ago, the Olympic champion once again holds every major sprint title there is.

And he shook off rain, sore legs, a slow start and any doubters Sunday to prove there never has been an athlete quite like him.

"For me to come in and regain my title, it's always great to be back," said Bolt.

Despite getting late out of the blocks in the downpour, the Jamaican superstar steadily caught up with 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin and left the American behind with a trademark late burst of speed that, still, no one can match.

"I came out here just to execute and get it right and to win," said Bolt. "That's what I do."

Gatlin made it more of a race than many thought he could, staying ahead until the closing stages.

"They wanted an epic race in rain and they got it," the American said.

Canada also earned its first medal of the championships, with Damian Warner winning bronze in the decathlon.

Warner finished third with 8,512 points, putting up personal bests in the pole vault and javelin to move into podium position in the ninth of 10 events.

"I said yesterday I wasn't happy with my first day, said I was going to come out swinging today and that's what I did," said Warner.

If Bolt's result was predictable, his demeanour was not. At 26, he has left most of the hot-dogging that has made

him famous behind. While he used to start celebrating well before the finish on big wins, he remained expressionless this time as he ran across the line, watching his performance on the giant screen in front of him. It took him several minutes of understated celebrations before he unleashed the mighty "Lightning Bolt" pose that made him famous across the globe.

His winning time was almost irrelevant, 9.77 seconds, 0.19 seconds slower than his world record. Gatlin crossed second in 9.85, while Bolt's teammate, Nesta Carter, took bronze in 9.95.

Bolt will now go for another golden triple, just like the one he had at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Games, and also at the 2009 worlds in Berlin. He has the heats of the 200 on Friday and, hopefully, the 4x100 final on Sunday's closing day.