Usain Bolt at IAAF World Championships 2015: Result and Time from Sunday

Usain Bolt narrowly beat rival Justin Gatlin to the gold medal in the 100-metre final of the IAAF World Championships on Sunday, finishing the race with his best time of the season: 9.79 seconds.

BBC Sport confirmed the news:

The two favourites were separated by just a single lane, and both had solid starts, with Gatlin leading Bolt entering the final 40 metres. Gatlin seemed to hold his lead until the final 15 metres, when Bolt shifted gears and beat his rival on the line.

Andre De Grasse and Trayvon Bromell tied for third place, via L'Equipe:

Here are the highlights of the photo finish:

As the Press Association's Simon Peach shared, the fans in the stadium exploded when Bolt, one of the world's most popular athletes, beat Gatlin in such a close final:

He ended up beating Gatlin by just one-hundredth of a second, and given that the American has routinely run faster than that, including in the semi-finals, some may think he wilted under the pressure of being favoured over Bolt for once.

Gatlin shocked the fans in Beijing by registering the fastest time of the semi-finals by some distance, finishing in 9.77 seconds. In contrast, Bolt struggled, stumbling early during his semi-final and finishing in 9.96.

As you can see in these highlights, the 29-year-old had to make up a lot of ground after a very poor start:

Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star was still mighty impressed with his run:

Leading up to the final, fans and pundits alike didn't know what to make of the battle between the two favourites. Form appeared to be on Gatlin's side, but Bolt always performs best on the biggest stage and is the 100-metre Olympic champion for a reason.

Former top sprinter Michael Johnson believed it would be a very close race, via BBC Sport:

The London Evening Standard's Liam and Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe couldn't agree on a clear favourite:

British fans voting for their favourite in the final dropped Bolt out of the top three completely, via BBC Sport, perhaps the first time in years the Jamaican superstar wasn't favoured to do well in a final.

Gatlin and Bolt bumped fists before the race, a beautiful gesture of sportsmanship, but it was clear the latter looked far less relaxed than we've been accustomed to in the past. His focus eventually paid off, however, as he enjoyed arguably his best start of the entire event.

The American still looked as if he had him beat but tightened up toward the finish line, and Gatlin will look back on this final as a missed opportunity. Meanwhile, viewers couldn't be happier crowd-favourite Bolt came through when he needed to most, as Steve Cram, via Agence France Presse's Tom Williams, explained:

As the Jamaica Observer noted, Bolt acknowledged he looked "rusty" in the final before revealing what his plans are for the future:

Sunday's final was one of the closest races fans have witnessed in years, and given Bolt's utter domination of the event over the past decade, the sport can only be better for it. No matter your stance on Gatlin and his transgressions in the past, as Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden detailed, the saying "every hero needs a good villain" certainly holds true in this case.

The win comes near the end of a particularly difficult season for Bolt, who struggled with injuries and inconsistency and appeared to be off the pace set by Gatlin all year long. But all that matters is the gold medal, and going into 2016 and the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Bolt will once again be the unquestioned favourite.

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