He ran more than a tenth of a second faster than he did when winning the Olympic title last year in Beijing as he stopped the clock in the Olympiastadion in 9.58sec.

 

Bolt's amazing display overshadowed the gold medal won in the heptathlon by Britain's Jessica Ennis, who dominated the event from start to finish.

 

In the stadium made famous by the exploits of Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics, Bolt took a massive 0.11 seconds off the previous record mark he ran to win in Beijing one year ago to the day.

 

Tyson Gay, the defending champion, finished nearly two metres behind even though his time of 9.71 was a United States record and the third fastest in history.

 

Asafa Powell, Bolt's Jamaican team-mate, was third in 9.84.

 

Bolt said: "I'm not a person who thinks about world records, I think about championships.

 

"That's what I went out to do and I ran a world record."

 

Gay had no complaints after a superb performance on the back of a persistent groin injury.

 

He said: "He ran a great race. I ran my best race but it wasn't enough."

 

Britain's Dwain Chambers, the only European in the final, finished sixth in 10.00.

 

Ennis became Britain's first-ever world hepathlon champion after dominating the gruelling seven-discipline,  two-day event.

 

Ennis went into the final event, the 800m, 171 points ahead of Poland's Kamila Chudzik and produced a run of 2min 12.22sec to ensure her place atop the podium with a world leading total of 6,731 points.

 

The 23-year-old from Sheffield went out hard, overtaking Ukraine's Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska almost immediately and building up a 15m lead.

 

Dobrynska came back at her but Ennis rallied strongly in the final few strides to cross the line first.

 

Ennis said: "In the 800m, I wasn't aware that Dobrynska was so close to me.

 

"But I said to myself, 'I'm not going to let her pass me'."

  

Ennis (pictured), who was fourth in the Osaka World Championships in 2007 but who missed the Beijing Olympics after sustaining three stress fractures in her right ankle, has been spoken of as a potential champion for several years.

 

She said: "It's been a long time since that bronze [in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne].

 

"I've dreamt about the title, especially after last year's disappointment.

 

"It was a lot of pressure but I managed to do it."

 

Ennis had been seeking to succeed where compatriot and 2000 Olympic champion Denise Lewis had failed - she managed two World Championship orld silver medals, and there had already been some contact between the two.

 

Ennis said: "I've already spoken to Denise Lewis and she said, 'You've done amazingly well.'"

 

There was also a silver medal for Ireland's Olive Loughnane has provided in the 20 kilometres walk.

 

The Cork-born walker put in a tremendous effort to pull away from China's Hong Liu and secure Ireland's first medal at these Championships since Gillian O'Sullivan won silver in the 20km walk in Paris in 2003.

 

Loughnane, who had come seventh in the Beijing Olympics, finished in a time of 1hour 28min and 58sec.

 

She is only the fourth Irish athlete to win a World outdoor Championships medal, with O'Sullivan, joining Eamonn Coghlan, who won the 5,000m in 1983, and Sonia O'Sullivan, a silver medallist in the 1500m in 1993, and gold in the 5,000m two years later, being the others.

 

Russia's Olga Kaniskina, the Olympic champion, hit the front before the halfway mark and showed superb form to pull away from the field and win gold in 1.28:09.

 

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Valerie Vili retained her shot put title.

 

The 24-year-old Olympic champion, who has been linked with a switch of allegiance to Britain befor the 2012 London Olympics, 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.
 

She said: "I am satisfied that I could defend the title.

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