Usain Bolt's prophecy comes true: the world's fastest man is Jamaican again.

BarcelonaHidden under a cap, Usain Bolt seemed nervous. The greatest sprinter of all time was at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, one of the venues he had conquered, to see if his compatriots would reclaim the men's 100m crown, 10 years after their last triumph. The king of speed events. And so it was. Oblique Seville, with his personal best (9.77), took gold ahead of his compatriot Kishane Thompson, who took silver. A few days ago, Usain Bolt had predicted gold and silver for the Jamaicans. His prophecy has come true.

In the women's category, American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won with a championship record of 10.61. A spectacular mark for an athlete aiming to win three gold medals at the Japanese event. The sprinter from South Carolina beat two Caribbean athletes on the podium: Tina Clayton of Jamaica and Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia. The Caribbean has long been a mecca for speed.

The men's final featured the fastest men of the moment, with the only significant absence being Italy's Marcell Jacobs, who surprised the world in that same stadium by winning the 2021 Olympic final, but was eliminated in the semifinals this time. The Americans had won the men's 100 meters in four consecutive world championships. Two years ago in Budapest, Noah Lyles, the man who somewhat wearily claims he wants to be the greatest of all time, reached the top. The 28-year-old Olympic champion is already too late if he wants to be like Bolt, after losing today's final. It must be said that, sportingly, he showed his best laugh and congratulated the Jamaicans, who were always ahead in a final that began with suspense due to Letsile Tebogo's false start. The Botswanan Olympic 200-meter champion left the field before the shot was fired and ended up disqualified. When the start was good, Thompson made an imperial start, tall and strong as he is. He dominated the race just as he has dominated the events this year with Lyles. But just when it seemed that the number 1 in the ranking would prevail, his compatriot Seville came in stronger, a more anarchic athlete, capable of the best and the worst. Today it turned out to be worthwhile, allowing Jamaica to win the event for the first time since 2015. He is the third Jamaican to win gold at the World Championships, after Bolt's three titles and Yohan Blake's in 2011.

Seville's celebration, and by extension Thompson's, came as the stadium PA system played " Buffalo soldier From Bob Marley, another Jamaican legend.

Emotional farewell to Fraser-Pryce

The surprise came in the final of the women's 100m, where Melissa Jefferson-Wooden edged out Jamaican Tina Clayton, second (10.76) with a personal best, and Olympic champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, third with 10.84. Jefferson-Wooden held on to her lead position with authority, maintaining a very high pace and setting the fourth-best time of all time. "It was an incredible year. I've been dreaming of this moment. Coming away with the gold medal and a championship record is a great start to my second World Championship. Today was all about me, trusting my abilities, my coach, the path I'd been given, and my faith." And simply trusting that I was there. The South Carolina athlete, bronze medalist last year at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, has experienced the beautiful side of sport, unlike her compatriot Sha'Carri Richardson, who finished fifth in the final while defending her title. This hasn't been her year.

The emotional note was set by Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a living athletics legend, who at the age of 38 competed in her last individual final at a major competition. A five-time world 100m champion, this true legend is retiring at the end of the event in the Japanese capital, where she finished sixth with a time of 11.03. At 38, and having become a mother, she has proven to be faster than most of her rivals.