Sport
Usain Bolt wins 100 meters in 9.77 seconds in Moscow and reclaims world championship gold
“They wanted an epic race in rain and they got it,” the American said.
If Bolt’s result was predictable, his demeanor was not. At 26, he has left most 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, .19 seconds slower than his world record. Gatlin crossed second in 9.85, while Bolt’s teammate, Nesta Carter, took bronze in 9.95.
If Bolt did not produce a sense of theater himself, the elements did it for him. Lightning flashed over Luzhniki Stadium half an hour before the final, and the rain started pouring in as the finalists entered the arena. To the cheers of about 25,000 fans, the stadium address system started blaring Bob Marley’s classic “Three Little Birds” and he was loosening his neck muscles to the lyrics, “Don’t worry, ’bout a thing. ‘Cause every little thing is gonna be all right.”
Gatlin had beaten Bolt in Rome early this season, and could take some hope from a blistering start on Sunday. But once those huge strides of Bolt started catching up with him, it was all over. 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 4×100 final on Sunday’s closing day.
