Under the floodlights of Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, Usain Bolt won the men's 200 metres final in 19.66 seconds. He became the first sprinter ever to claim three world championship titles over the distance.
The race decided by the bend
Bolt had not been the fastest in the heats or semi-finals, and his teammate Warren Weir was talking up a challenge. Starting in lane four, Bolt reacted slowest of the eight finalists. Britain's Adam Gemili made the sharpest getaway but was quickly swallowed by the Jamaican uniforms.
Midway through the turn, Bolt emerged with a clear lead. Coming off the bend, he owned several metres on the field. Weir ran with him most of the way down the straight, yet could not reclaim the ground lost in the first hundred metres.
Bolt eased and cruised across the line, winning by 0.13 seconds. Weir took silver in a personal-best-matching 19.79, while American Curtis Mitchell closed for bronze in 20.04.
A slower time, the same outcome
This was the slowest of all his global 200m victories. On its own, the clocking would rank a man as the eighth-fastest performer of all time. For Bolt, it was a mark that somehow felt routine — and they still could not catch him.
Three world titles, one first
No other man had defended a world 200m crown three times consecutively. Calvin Smith and Michael Johnson each won twice. Bolt made it three in a row — Berlin 2009, Daegu 2011, Moscow 2013 — and completed a fourth global championship sprint double in five years.
The achievement arrived in a career thick with landmarks: Olympic doubles, world records of 9.58 and 19.19 that stood untouched. Here, he added a crown no one else had ever worn.
Two days later he anchored Jamaica to relay gold, equalling the all-time record for world championships golds. The Moscow 200m was not the swiftest, but it was a first.
