The title of world’s fastest man has only really belonged to one man for the past eight or so years, Usain Bolt obliterating the 100m and 200m world records and becoming a fan favourite along the way.

Someone who can’t claim the same is Justin Gatlin, having been banned from athletics between 2006 and 2010 for doping. The 33-year-old has had remarkable success since his return, winning 28 successive races and running the fastest time in both 2014 and 2015.

All that made yesterday’s World Championship race in Beijing one worth watching, the Jamaican and American giving viewers the epic battle they had hoped for. Here’s legend Michael Johnson with his take on that race up top from the BBC:

“I’m amazed. This is Usain Bolt’s best race ever. He knew it was a completely different set of circumstances for him. He’ll be most proud of this win without a doubt. It’s not about technique, it’s about running for your life and he’s got the talent to be able to do that.”

Bolt’s 9,79 seconds is still some way off his world record, but it sets up next year’s Olympics in Rio rather nicely. It’s certainly a case of ‘good versus evil’, the sentiments below from Great Britain hurdler Dai Greene on TIME summing up the feelings of many:

It shows one of two things: either he’s [Gatlin] still taking performance-enhancing drugs to get the best out of him at his advanced age, or the ones he did take are still doing a fantastic job. Because there is no way he can still be running that well at this late point in his career.

We’ll give the last word to Bolt because he usually gets it in anyway:

This means a lot because I’ve been struggling all season, it’s taken me a while to work things out…

It’s been up and down but it’s OK now.

August 14, 2016 – that 100m final should be a goodie.

[sources:bbc&time]