No sooner had the opening ceremony ended and smiles spread across the faces of those in the stadium than the sprint heats got underway to determine the fastest man in the world. Although the whole world loves record holder and legend Usain Bolt, America’s Justin Gatlin proved a tough rival and signalled this would be a decisive race – either Jamaica’s Bolt would continue his reign as an athletics legend, or his era would end with an American resurgence reclaiming the fastest man in the world title for the United States, especially with all eyes on athletics amid accusations scattered here and there against its stars and officials that doping was behind the sport’s excitement. Justin Gatlin ran 9.83 seconds in the heats, putting Bolt to the test, but the Jamaican did not respond and finished the race qualifying in 9.96 seconds, signalling to everyone that the coming semi-final would be a clash of titans to determine whether Bolt would keep his throne or whether his reign as the hurricane would come to an end
