Athletics/World Championships:  Every year the business of deciding the fastest man on earth seems to get more complicated, but Justin Gatlin is now one step short of making an undisputed claim to the title.

Yesterday the 23-year-old American became the World 100-metre champion to add to his Olympic title won in Athens last year, illuminating the already bright evening with a scorching time of 9.88 seconds.

Once Gatlin got moving no one else got a look in. Michael Frater of Jamaica was a distant second in 10.05, with defending champion Kim Collins of St Kitts given the same time in third.

The one man who possibly could have beaten Gatlin is the new world-record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica, who ran 9.77 earlier this summer but watched from the stands of the old Olympic Stadium because of a groin injury.

Gatlin's team-mate Leonard Scott got the best start, but Gatlin passed him like a freight train after 50 metres and had the luxury of winning with a smile on his face.

He grabbed an American flag, fell to his knees for a quick prayer, and promptly proceeded on his lap of honour.

He becomes only the third US runner to win this title, following in the footsteps of Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene - who won six of the last nine titles between them.

"I came here to win," he said, "and I knew I'd win. I had a great time out there, but this still feels like a start for me. And I know I'll come out even better next year."

Just over a year ago the Brooklyn-born athlete was shovelling snow off his training track in North Carolina under the eye of his coach Trevor Graham.

He's come out this year looking distinctly wider, bulkier and bolder. And Gatlin certainly fits the profile of the modern sprint champion - clearly talented and overwhelmingly self-confident, with the small matter of a previous drug suspension next to his name.

He couldn't win a race in 2004 before becoming Olympic champion (improving his best to 9.85 in the process) but with age on his side he's likely to pursue the title sprinters call the "goat" - the greatest of all time.

Scott eventually faded to sixth, and Portugal's great hope Francis Obikwelu could only manage fourth in 10.07.

Gatlin is back later in the week to seek a sprint double, and given the way he finished last night that should be a formality.

Gatlin may have won the main event of the night but the best reception was reserved for Carolina Kluft. At 22 she's now firmly established herself as the best all-round woman athlete in the world, running, jumping and almost dancing her way through all seven heptathlon events - much to the roaring approval the Swedish fans who filled a large section of the old stadium over the past two days.

In the end Kluft collected 6,887 points, leaving her 63 points ahead of 1999 champion Eunice Barber of France. She eased past Barber in the home stretch of the 800 metres, the last event, to ensure she held on to the World title to go with her Olympic and European titles.

Anyone who enjoys winning as much as Kluft does is an adornment to the sport.

One of the other main events of the day took place in a small tent outside the Olympic Stadium, where Paula Radcliffe looked back on Saturday's ninth-place finish in the 10,000 metres, and ahead to next Sunday's marathon, If there were any side effects to running 25 laps of the track in the heat of the championship she certainly wasn't going to admit it - and instead heads to the village of Turku, west of Helsinki, to rest her legs and relax before running 26.2 miles.

"Everything feels good," she said. "I just wanted to get a good run in. It was very windy on the night, which meant I couldn't run quite as hard as I wanted to. But it was all preparation for the marathon."

Not even the harder questions - like was it really a good idea to do both - revealed any cracks in Radcliffe's professed confidence heading into her speciality.

"Yeah. I knew I wasn't going to be 100 per cent sharp for this one, but I really wanted to get out and race anyway. I decided after last year that I was going to just run for me, and enjoy myself. I didn't get a chance to race 10,000 this year, and obviously won't get a chance after the marathon.

"I knew coming in here that my marathon shape was even better than London last April, and that's why I felt I could handle both. And of course I hadn't 100 per cent tapered for it.

"I'm not happy to get beaten, but it was the run-out I wanted. So I've no concerns at all about next week."

It used to be that vast reserves of stamina were enough to win most distance races on the track, but the Ethiopians have now officially changed all that. Their women, just like their men, can handle any pace thrown at them and still move like a Ferrari on the last lap - which is exactly what Tirunesh Dibaba did after Radcliffe had set the early pace.

The 20-year-old ran 58.53 seconds for the last lap, the fastest finish ever for a women's distance race. That gave her the win in 30:42.02 to lead home an Ethiopian sweep of the medals - and Dibaba intends adding another title in the 5,000 metres.

But it's hard to imagine anyone cherishing one gold medal more than Radcliffe. The saga continues . . .