Usain Bolt, who set the track world on fire four years ago with a dominant Olympic performance in Beijing, looks like he's going to do it again in London.
Bolt, 25, the Jamaican world recordholder and defending Olympic champion, exploded down the track at London's Olympic Stadium and won the gold medal in the 100 meters late Sunday night in a blazing time of 9.63 seconds — the second-fastest time in history.
The mark broke his Olympic record set in Beijing — 9.69 — and was just .05 seconds off the world record of 9.58 he set at the 2009 world championships.
In one of the great 100 meters of all time, Yohan Blake of Jamaica was second (9.75) and Justin Gatlin of the USA was third (9.79).
"When it comes to the championships, this is what I do," Bolt said. "I'm really focused, and I'm ready. I just came out there and showed the world that I'm still No. 1. I'm still the best.
"A lot of people come out to see what I'm going to do today, tomorrow. It's fun for them. I enjoy showing them and giving them the joy that I get out of doing this."
Bolt said coming into the Games that his goal was "to become a legend."
It was a good start.
"It means I'm one step closer to being a legend," Bolt said. "That's just one step. I have the 200 (meters) to go, so I'm looking forward to that. The 100 is just one step in the door."
Bolt, who lost to training partner Blake, 22, in the 100 and 200 in the Jamaican Olympic trials, avenged one of those losses. Bolt said he will avenge the other loss when the 200 meters begins Tuesday.
"I've told Yohan that the 200 meters will be different, because that's my pet event," he said. "I'm not going to let him beat me again. I've said that to him already.
"The (Jamaican) trials woke me up. Yohan gave me a wakeup call. He knocked on my door and said, 'Usain, this is an Olympic year. Wake up. I'm ready. Are you?' "
It wasn't just the losses at the trials that raised questions about Bolt this year. His starts were sluggish, causing speculation that his false-start disqualification in last year's world championships 100 meters, won by Blake, was still playing in his head. His back was an issue. His hamstring was an issue. Some critics even said his partying might be an issue.
"My back was hurting, there was never a doubt about that," Bolt said. "But I got my treatment, and my coach said this is what we're going to do, and I did it. There were a lot of people doubting me. There was a lot of talk."
Sunday night, there were no issues, and no doubters.
Bolt got out of the blocks fine — not great, but fine — and found himself, in Lane 7, slightly behind Gatlin, a sensational starter, in Lane 6.
"My start wasn't the best, but my coach (Glen Mills) already explained to me to forget about the start, and I'm past that," he said.
As soon as he got his incomparably long stride going, the 6-5 Bolt caught Gatlin, and passed him and everyone else.
"Bolt was Bolt," Gatlin said. "He's a great runner. He's 6-5. You can't miss him. He's there. When those legs lift, you feel it.
"He the Michael Phelps of our sport. He's a showman. People come out and pay their money to watch a good race. Is it arrogant? Is it cocky? I don't think so. I want to go out there and beat him. I want to beat Blake, too. But at the end of the day, the best guy won today."
It was an eye-opening, jaw-dropping performance after so many months of speculation that the Bolt Era in track might be in decline.
"He's an unbelievable sprinter," said Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Richard Thompson, who was seventh. "The entire world thinks he's unbeatable and right now he is."
Gatlin, 30, the 2004 Olympic champion who served a four-year doping suspension ending in 2010, was thrilled with his bronze and personal-best 9.79.
"It means so much to me," Gatlin said. "It just feels good to be back. It was a great race. One for the history books. I'm just glad to be a part of it."
Tyson Gay, 29, the second-fastest man in the world by virtue of his 9.69 in 2009, was trying to race against the short clock and a long clock; he was coming back from 2011 hip surgery. He summoned a big effort — a season-best 9.8 — but in this company, on this night, that was good for only fourth. The USA's Ryan Bailey, with a personal-best 9.88, was fifth.
Seven of the eight runners finished under 10 seconds, and probably all eight would have if not for Jamaica's Asafa Powell, a former world recordholder, pulling up and coasting in at 11.99.
They call fourth at the Olympics the cruelest finish, and Gay was crying as he struggled to complete sentences to reporters in the interview area.
"I don't think I could go back and do nothing else," he said. "I feel like I ran with the field. I just came up short. That's all I did."
Much had been made about the possibility of bad weather preventing fast times on the Olympic Stadium track.
But at race time Sunday night, just before 10 p.m. London time, when the fastest men in the world lined up to see who is fastest, the weather was perfect.
The main question was whether we would see the Beijing Bolt again or the lesser version that had been on display this season
In Beijing, Bolt ran three races and set three world records -- 9.69 in the 100, 19.30 in the 200, plus a third world record on the Jamaican winning 4 x 100 relay team.
The next year, at the 2009 world championships in Berlin, he lowered those marks to 9.58 in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200.
And there those records have remained.
In 2010, Bolt's fastest time was 9.82. Last year, his fastest was 9.76, and he was disqualified for a false start in the 100 meters at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea.
This season, again 9.76 had been his fastest time, and he had suffered the two losses to Blake.
In round 1 in London Saturday, he stumbled out of the blocks - another sluggish start - and lumbered to the line in 10.09 seconds.
During introductions for his semifinal heat Sunday evening, he struck a boxing pose and threw a right and a left.
Then he looked as comfortable as could be, starting pretty well, driving through the halfway point like an Olympic champion would, and then easing up at the finish with a big lead. His time - 9.87 - signaled something special might be coming.
Then - wow! The old Bolt, back again, accelerating away from the field and into history, the first repeat gold medalist in the 100 since Carl Lewis in 1984 and '88 - though Lewis' '88 gold came only after Ben Johnson's disqualification for doping.
Bolt will be back in the 200 meters, and likely he will be back for another Olympics in 2016. He is just 25, after all.
This might have been the end of the Olympic road for Gatlin, who will be 34 in 2016, and Gay, who will be 33.
In a race in which heroes are celebrated, reputations revised and perhaps careers ended, a legend grew.
And London had had quite an Olympic moment.
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