The field, which paired Bolt against Gay in what was considered a possible preview of the Olympic final at this summer’s Beijing Games, appeared nervous. The second attempt to run Saturday’s race was aborted when runners stood up in the blocks.

On the third attempt, Bolt got a searing start and Gay never threatened. Gay ran only one-hundredth of a second off his personal best, but he finished a distant second. The tailwind was 1.7 metres per second, under the allowable limit of 2 metres per second.

Bolt threw his arms up and circled the track, beating on his chest at one point at the sheer dominance and improbability of the moment. “I knew if I got Tyson on the blocks, I’d have a better chance of winning,” Bolt said. “I got him.”

Gay managed to close slightly, but quickly he felt the race slip beyond his control.

“He got a pretty good start, maybe a little better than I thought,” Gay said.

“I didn’t realise his stride was so big. I honestly think we were on the same rhythm, except his stride pattern was so much bigger. He covered more ground than I did.”

Until last month, Bolt was a 200-metre specialist. He finished second in the 200 to Gay at the 2007 world championships.

Then, as a speed workout, he entered a 100-metre race in Jamaica in early May. The result was then the second-fastest 100 ever run — 9.76 seconds. All of a sudden, Bolt had become a major player in the 100 as well.

... contd.