Bolt cements his status as Greatest Sprinter ever

Olympic champion Usain Bolt became a World champion once again after storming to victory in the 100m final at the World Championships in Moscow. Finishing with a season’s best of 9.77 seconds, he was finally able to avenge the disappointment of his false start and disqualification at the last World Championships in Daegu two years ago. After a decent start to the race, the Jamaican overtook fellow competitor Justin Gatlin in the last stage, confirming the American’s second placed finish at 9.88 seconds and silver medal. Bolt’s compatriot Nesta Carter finished third at 9.95 and collected the bronze medal for his efforts, but the sprinting spotlight remains firmly on Bolt who, after his latest triumph, has now won five World Championship titles. This further cements his status as the greatest sprinter to ever grace the game.

While his time of 9.77 seconds was some way off his world record of 9.58 set 4 years ago at the Berlin World Championships, for Bolt to continue his sprinting dominance is an unprecedented achievement. The final itself was lacking star names such as Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, who failed drugs tests back in July, and Yohan Blake who was out with injury. This is taking nothing away from Bolt, who proved too much of a force against Gatlin, the man who beat Bolt in June at the Diamond League meeting in June.

Speaking on his victory in Moscow, Bolt said: “I am happy but I wanted to do better. My legs were sore after the semi-finals, I don’t know why, but the world record wasn’t on so I came out just to win. Back in Jamaica, they do not expect less than that from me. They always expect me to dominate!” But as long as Bolt continues to fly the flag in such a dominant way, Jamaicans will not have much to object to.

by Yemi Abiade