When the dust settled on Usain Bolt’s stunning World Championships victory over two-time doping offender Justin Gatlin in the men’s 100m, the natural order of athletics remained intact — just.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was quick to congratulate Bolt, who had barely completed his lap of honor in Beijing on Sunday, dancing and striking poses with the Jamaican flag draped over his shoulders like a superhero’s cape.
“Congratulations to Usain Bolt for a historic victory,” Back said. “It was great to see him winning in the Bird’s Nest stadium again.”
Photo: Reuters
It is hard to imagine that Bach, a supporter of lifetime bans for doping, would have been quite so happy had Gatlin controversially ended Bolt’s reign as the world’s fastest man.
“My aim is to be the best ever, to continue dominating,” said Bolt, one of the most tested athletes in sport. “There is no time to celebrate anything.”
Bolt’s ruthless takedown of Gatlin was a close-run thing. The Jamaican clocked 9.79 seconds in the final, just one-hundredth quicker than his US rival — the finest of margins, but enough to bolster the crisis-hit sport’s credibility.
His victory would have been warmly welcomed by athletics bosses, who have been under heavy fire over doping and were uneasy at the prospect of Gatlin being crowned the world 100m champion.
As allegations of widespread doping engulfed athletics in the build-up to Beijing, newly elected International Association of Athletics Federations president Sebastian Coe, who has promised zero tolerance for drug cheats, said a Gatlin victory would make him feel “queasy.”
Gatlin, 33, was banned for eight years after a second positive test in 2006, though that suspension was halved after he cooperated with anti-doping officials.
While there was symbolic significance in Bolt’s win, Gatlin’s agent Renaldo Nehemiah said the runner has been shaken by the constant references to his murky past.
“He’s not angry, he’s upset about it,” Nehemiah said. “We build people up to break them down, that’s just human nature.”
“When you serve a doping ban, usually it’s career-ending,” Nehemiah said. “He’s been able to come back, he’s been proving to people he’s a great talent. A four-year suspension is supposed to ruin your career and it really hasn’t, athletically, for him.”
Gatlin, who had been unbeaten in 28 races over two years before Sunday’s final, vowed to return with a vengeance in the 200m.
“I just have to reset, man,” said Gatlin, one of four men in the 100m final to have served a doping ban. “Just get ready for the 200m, dial back in and be ready for business.”
Bolt refused to depict the race as a morality tale.
“That’s for you guys to write,” he told journalists. “I have shown the world that it is possible [to run clean]. I have worked my hardest. I have pushed myself.”
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