EUGENE, Ore. — On Sept. 3, 2013, Usain Bolt won the 100 meters at a Diamond League event in Brussels with a time of 9.80. But that's not the story.
Bolt taking the 100 — a more-often-than-not occurrence in this era of track — isn't why that event remains noteworthy nearly two years later. There's a more timely reason why this race lingers: It's the last individual race Justin Gatlin entered and didn't win.
And that's not the only reason it lingers. In hindsight, this event, with Bolt winning and Gatlin finishing fourth, has played a substantial role in the 33-year-old American's mental edge in the years since, a stretch of dominance that perhaps only Bolt himself can match among active sprinters.