Bolt shatters 100m world record with 9.58

Jamaica's Usain Bolt shattered his own 100 metres world record to win the world championships final in a breathtaking 9.58 seconds last night.

Bolt took a staggering 0.11 seconds off the 9.69 mark he set winning gold at the Beijing Olympics a year ago to the day, taking the event into a time zone undreamed of before his arrival on the scene.

In contrast to the Olympic final when he was able to coast over the line, Bolt was pushed hard on the blue track at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

American Tyson Gay, the 2007 world champion, finished second in 9.71, the third fastest time ever, and Jamaican Asafa Powell claimed bronze in 9.84.

"I don't run for world records," Bolt told reporters. "The aim was just to come out here and execute because it was going to be a tough race.

"I got a pretty good start, I was there at 20 metres and that was it."

Bolt, who false-started in the semi-final, made a flying getaway in the final and was clear by 20 metres.

He crossed the line with one eye on the clock before pounding his chest and blowing kisses to the crowd.

He hugged his friend Powell and completed a lap of honour roared on by some 70,000 cheering fans.

"Today was perfect. This gave me a lot of energy. Especially the crowd," Bolt said through the stadium microphone, immediately after the race. "I won't forget it."

Bolt, four days shy of his 23rd birthday, had pledged to wrestle the only major title still missing from his now perfect collection away from Gay, but had complained his preparation was plagued by rain and wind in the European meetings he ran.

He also had to undergo minor surgery to remove thorns from his foot in April, after stepping on them following a car crash.

Also yesterday, New Zealand's Valerie Vili retained her shot put title. The 24-year-old Olympic champion had a best mark of 20.44 metres with Nadine Kleinert, of Germany taking silver (20.20m) and China's Lijao Gong taking bronze with 19.89m.

Vili, daughter of an English father and a Tongan mother, danced for joy on becoming world champion for the second time.

"I am satisfied that I could defend the title," she said.

"Tonight the German girl pushed me a lot but I wasn't worried, we spent proper time preparing to get the right things done," added Vili.

Britain's Jessica Ennis won the heptathlon gold after leading from the opening event.

Ennis, 23, won three of the four disciplines on Saturday and managed a personal best in the other, the shot, to take a healthy 307-point lead into the second day.

She was pegged back slightly in the long jump and further in the javelin, her weakest event, but still went into the 800 metres with a cushion of 171 points, which represented around 11 seconds.

Ennis, who missed last year's Olympics with a fractured ankle, took a safety-first approach in the 800 by hitting the front early and holding off all challengers to finish safely in 2:12.22 for a total of 6,731 points.

A storming finish from Germany's Jennifer Oeser secured her the silver and Poland's Kamila Chudzik took bronze.

The first medals of the day were awarded in the women's 20km walk, held in the city centre and ending at the Brandenburg Gate, with Olympic and defending world champion Olga Kaniskina totally dominating.

She broke clear after six kilometres and was never troubled to win in 1:28:10. Ireland's Olive Loughnane took a surprise silver, ahead of China's Liu Hong.

Kaniskina's win means Russian women have won the last five 20km world race walk golds and completed a Berlin double after Valeriy Borchin's victory in the men's race on Saturday.