ONE race cannot clean up the image of athletics but Usain Bolt has won his sport a shot at redemption.

Drug scandals and doping allegations have eroded trust to such an extent that spectators wonder if what they watch is genuine sporting achievement or fakery.

The pre-race hype for yesterday’s world 100 metres final depicted it as a showdown of good versus evil as Jamaica’s Bolt lined up against twice-convicted doping cheat Justin Gatlin.

The controversial American came into the final on a 28-race unbeaten run and was hot favourite for the gold medal after he cruised through the heats to show form that was as perfect as his reputation was blemished.

If Gatlin had won it would have left a bitter taste in the mouth for people who have grown tired of seeing sporting cheats prosper.

BBC Commentator Steve Cram certainty believed that was the case when he bellowed: “He's saved his title, he's saved his reputation, he may have even saved his sport,” as Bolt swept across the line to take the world crown for the third time. It was a stunning achievement but athletics has a long way to go before it can claim to have been saved.

The final contained three other competitors who have returned from doping bans, and it was reported early this month that retrospective drug testing had uncovered suspicious results in one-third of athletics medals won in Olympic and world championship endurance events between 2001 and 2012.

The peerless ability of Bolt, and victories for Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farrah, provided a welcome reminder of genuine athletic prowess, but there are bigger prizes at stake than gold medals.

Seb Coe, the new IAAF president, has the task of restoring athletics’ credibility by purging it of cheats. Bolt’s victory for ‘clean’ athletes gave that campaign the perfect start.