Usain Bolt has confirmed himself as irrefutably the greatest sprinter of all time after winning a third successive Olympic 100m gold medal.
The quickest man ever has also now won seven Olympic gold medals after he won the Olympics' premier event by running 9.80s.
American Justin Gatlin, the pantomime villain of the clean versus dirty athlete games, was second in 9.89. Canadian Andre De Grasse was third in a personal best 9.91s.
Bolt ran as Bolt does, slower than anyone at first then quicker than anyone thereafter. The tall, long-striding Jamaican takes time to get into his stride but once he does he cannot seemingly be stopped. Not now anyway.
In Rio's Olympic Stadium his relatively slow start meant he again teased at the idea that he may be beaten but then he gathered up the field within a breath. By halfway it was clear he was not going to be beaten.
It was a contrast to last year's world championships when Gatlin had the race won until the final 20 metres, choked and watched as Bolt loomed up over his shoulder and took the gold. This time Gatlin again started the faster and was leading strongly but he did nothing else in the race wrong; he simply was not quick enough.
The twice banned drug cheat, the last man to win an Olympic 100m gold medal before the Bolt dominance took hold (in 2004), was booed by the boisterous Rio crowd almost as loudly as their superhero Bolt was cheered.
The Brazilians were euphoric at the win. They chanted Bolt's name as he celebrated with his signature point to the sky salute. They also did not run him over with a cameraman on a segway, which made a nice change.
In the context of a Russia-free games that has been dominated by doping, this anticipated final clash between Gatlin and Bolt had been distilled to a simple contest between the dirty athlete in Gatlin and the clean athlete Bolt.
Bolt won.
