Olympic 100 metres champion Usain Bolt proved he is the fastest man on the planet ahead of fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell in tonight's Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels.
Bolt roared to victory in 9.77 seconds, a fast time given the wet conditions.
Although Powell had another disappointing Olympics where he managed only fifth place, his post-Beijing victories with times of 9.87 seconds last Sunday at Gateshead and 9.72secs in Lausanne two days later, showed he was again at the peak of his form.
Bolt had his customary poor start and was the last sprinter out of his blocks so had no opportunity to showboat as another defeat at the hands of Powell looked to be on the cards.
His countryman, who beat him in the Stockholm Super Grand Prix at the end of July, looked to be on track to repeat that success until the tall Bolt finally got his long legs into full gear.
That saw Bolt running under 10 seconds for the 10th time this season and on a very wet track come level 20 metres from the line before he surged ahead to win by a narrow 0.06sec.
Despite the conditions it proved to be a spectacular confrontation and Nesta Carter and Michael Frater, third and fourth in 10.07sec and 10.08sec, made it a dominant night for Jamaican sprinters.
‘Since I've been running, this has been the most exciting race I've ever been in,’ insisted Powell whose time in Lausanne 72 hours earlier has only been bettered by Bolt.
‘I knew it was going to be a close thing, as I've been running well. But he got me at the end.’
Bolt who broke Powell's 12-month old meeting record of 9.84sec was relieved to come up trumps after his poor start and admitted he needs to concentrate in future to get it right.
‘I still have to get used to the different starters,’ said Bolt, who nevertheless has seen his finishing speed over both 100m and 200m atone for the shortcoming.
Olympic silver-medallist Jeremy Wariner clinched his fifth Golden League win of the season, well clear in a time of 44.44sec in the 400m.
Christine Ohuruogu, who stepped down from her Olympic 400m winning distance to 200m, was never in contention and finished seventh in 23.33sec.
Ohuruogu trailed the leaders coming into the home straight as Marshevet Hooker of the USA claimed victory in 22.62sec.
‘This race is fun,’ said Ohuruogu. ‘A 200m is not my thing and after the gold medal in Beijing, I needed to take a short break.
‘I will run other 400s this season, but I don't know where or when.’
The 24-year-old is expected to return to one lap action in next weekend's IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart and then travel back to China to compete in Shanghai on September 20.
European champion Kim Gevaert, who made her final international appearance on home soil, was a surprise winner of the women's 100m race, clocking 11.25sec.
Former world silver medallist Delloreen Ennis of Jamaica claimed victory in the women's 100m hurdles with a mark of 12.65sec.
The field,were mere spectators as Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo won the the IAAF one million dollars jackpot and set a meeting record of 1min 55.16sec in the women's 800m.
It gained the 18-year-old Kenyan the jackpot outright after Croatia's Blanka Vlasic the only other contender finished second in the high jump.
