Usain Bolt has retained his title as the World Champion of the 100 meter dash beating American Justin Gatlin by the narrowest of margins, .01 of a second at the IAAF World Championships. The Jamaican wasn’t at his best on the day but still managed to take the gold at the Bird’s Nest once again. He first made his mark on the sport, in the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the Bird's Nest, with his then-World and Olympic Record time of 9.69.
Bolt’s semifinal stumble and other semifinal results
In the first semifinal, Bolt stumbled out of the blocks in the first 15 meters. However, he once again showed off his superhuman nature by managing to win the semifinal heat with a time of 9.96, defeating Canada’s Andre De Grasse in a photo finish. These men made up two of the four qualifiers from the first semifinal heat along with the United States’ Trayvon Bromell and China’s Bingtian Su with times of 9.99
The second semifinal saw a much more convincing showing via Gatlin who ran a 9.77. The other runner to qualify from this heat was also from the United States, Mike Rodgers with a time of 9.86. In the final semifinal heat, Tyson Gay (9.96), Asafa Powell (9.97), and Jimmy Vicaut (9.99) were the final qualifiers.
Gatlin leads early but Bolt chases him down for gold
There were nine sprinters in the final due to the final qualifying time being 9.99 which was posted by Su and Vicaut. In order, these were the racers in their respective lane assignments:
- Vicaut (FRA),
- Su (CHN)
- Bromell (USA)
- Rodgers (USA)
- Bolt (JAM)
- Gay (USA)
- Gatlin (USA)
- Powell (JAM)
- De Grasse (CAN)
All eyes were on Gatlin and Bolt, the two fastest men in the world this year. Everyone knew a stumble out of the blocks would cost Bolt the race, and he had to also be careful of false starting like he did in the 2011 World Championships where he was disqualified from the 100 meters.
With the sound of the gun, the men were off as Rodgers and Bolt flew out to solid starts, but Gatlin was better through about the first 70 meters. Despite that slight lead though, the two-time World Champion caught Gatlin in the end beating him for the World Championship by .01 of a second to claim a third World Championship.
With the win, Bolt becomes the third sprinter to win the World Championship in the 100 meters joining Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene. Trayvon Bromell and Andre De Grasse tied for bronze even after sending the time to the thousandths of a second mark.
This was commentator Steve Cram on Bolt’s win right after the finish, “He's saved his title, he's saved his reputation, he may have even saved his sport.” The latter comment is most likely referred to the Jamaican winning on a clean reputation while Gatlin, the silver medalist, was found guilty of doping twice and served out and four-year suspension (originally eight) which ended in 2010.
To many, Bolt is seen as a hero not just to his superhuman nature of winning gold after gold and breaking record after record, but for his ability to win without doping in a time many of his main competitors were caught cheating. Gatlin, Powell, Yohan Blake, and Gay have all pleaded guilty to doping at one point or another in their careers.
Cram once again said how he felt about Bolt defeating Gatlin, “The result that everyone wanted, except Justin Gatlin I guess.” In a time where the feds have tracked down dopers, past and present in sports like baseball, athletics, and cycling, the newly crowned three-time World Champion has transcended the sport of track and field like no other.