Bolt answers doubters with emphatic win

Usain Bolt lit up the Olympics on Sunday, running the second fastest 100m time in history to emphatically end all arguments about his status as the greatest sprinter in history.

The world record holder came to London with many questioning whether he could once again find the magic he produced four years ago in Beijing but he never looked like losing his crown, crossing the line in 9.63sec.

His Jamaican training partner Yohan Blake, long tipped to take Bolt's mantle, came into the final with real hopes of grabbing his Olympic crown after winning world championship gold last year.

But if Bolt felt nervous, he did not show it, showboating to the packed crowd before leaving Blake and his other challengers for dead in a new Olympic record time which was just 0.05sec outside his own world record.

"I executed and that was the key," Bolt said. "When it comes to the championships, it's all about business for me and I brought it."

Blake claimed silver after equalling his personal best of 9.75sec and American 2004 Olympic gold medallist Justin Gatlin completed his remarkable comeback from a four-year doping ban with bronze in 9.79sec.

But the evening was all about Bolt.

To mass delight in the 80,000-capacity stadium, he practised his DJ mixing skills, one hand raised to his ear, and then drew laughter after drawing pretend pistols and reholstering them after pointing them down the track.

As the starter called them to the blocks, Bolt put a finger to his lips to hush the excitable crowd.

Gatlin had the edge early on but once 25-year-old Bolt was into his stride he demolished a field including the four fastest men in the world - himself, Gay, Blake and Jamaica's Asafa Powell.

Blake was two metres behind at the finish and after Bolt crossed the line, he immediately set off on a lap of victory with a Jamaican flag draped over his shoulders and his 22-year-old training partner in tow.

The champion stopped to perform his customary archer's pose at various points, to chants of "Usain, Usain!" ringing around the stadium.

"I was slightly worried about my start, I slipped a little in the blocks. I don't have the best reactions, but I secured it and that's the key," said Bolt.

"My coach told me to stop worrying about the start and concentrate on the end because that's my best."

"It was wonderful. I knew it was going to be like this. There wasn't a doubt in my mind it was going to be like this," he added.

Elsewhere, Sanya Richards-Ross dethroned home favourite Christine Ohuruogu to win the women's 400m title in 49.55sec, ending a 28-year gold drought in the event for the United States.

Bitter rival Ohuruogu, the Briton who took gold in Beijing, finished second in 49.70sec while DeeDee Trotter of the United States took bronze in 49.72sec.