 "Bolt beats Gatlin for fourth world 200m gold")
Jamaica's Usain Bolt easily outstripped American rival Justin Gatlin to claim his fourth consecutive world 200m title today and complete a rousing sprint double in Beijing.
Bolt clocked a world-leading 19.55 seconds to beat Gatlin by nearly two-tenths, thumbing his chest as he crossed the line to add the 200m to his 100m title at the world championships.
The clear victory extends Bolt's domination of sprinting which stretches back to when he took the world by storm at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, also at the Bird's Nest stadium.
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans and finished just one-hundredth of a second behind Bolt in Sunday's 100m, clocked 19.74sec, with South African Anaso Jobodwana taking bronze with a national record of 19.87sec.
The victory meant Bolt has now remarkably won 11 of the last 12 individual Olympic and world sprint titles dating back to Beijing 2008, his only blip coming after a false start in the 100m at the 2011 worlds in Daegu.
"There was no doubt," said Bolt, who has had pelvic problems this season and did not consider an attempt on his own world record of 19.19sec, set in 2009.
"I knew I wasn't in the shape for a world record. But when it comes to the 200m, I am a different person, I was beaten there only once.
"My four world championships gold medals in the 200m, this is a big deal, a great accomplishment."
Huge cheers greeted Bolt, wearing lycra shorts and singlet in the green, gold and black colours of Jamaica and placed in lane six, with Gatlin on his inside in lane four.
Applause also rang out for Gatlin, in a red one-piece suit, as the stadium comperes built up a boxing-match atmosphere at the packed Bird's Nest.
Bolt clocked a world-leading 19.55 seconds to beat Gatlin by nearly two-tenths, thumbing his chest as he crossed the line to add the 200m to his 100m title at the world championships.
The clear victory extends Bolt's domination of sprinting which stretches back to when he took the world by storm at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, also at the Bird's Nest stadium.
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans and finished just one-hundredth of a second behind Bolt in Sunday's 100m, clocked 19.74sec, with South African Anaso Jobodwana taking bronze with a national record of 19.87sec.
The victory meant Bolt has now remarkably won 11 of the last 12 individual Olympic and world sprint titles dating back to Beijing 2008, his only blip coming after a false start in the 100m at the 2011 worlds in Daegu.
"There was no doubt," said Bolt, who has had pelvic problems this season and did not consider an attempt on his own world record of 19.19sec, set in 2009.
"I knew I wasn't in the shape for a world record. But when it comes to the 200m, I am a different person, I was beaten there only once.
"My four world championships gold medals in the 200m, this is a big deal, a great accomplishment."
Huge cheers greeted Bolt, wearing lycra shorts and singlet in the green, gold and black colours of Jamaica and placed in lane six, with Gatlin on his inside in lane four.
Applause also rang out for Gatlin, in a red one-piece suit, as the stadium comperes built up a boxing-match atmosphere at the packed Bird's Nest.