OSAKA , Japan -- Tyson Gay sprinted into the history books on Thursday as he completed the rare world 100-200 meters double in emphatic fashion in Osaka , Japan . Gay crosses the line ahead of Jamaican Usain Bolt to complete a rare men 's sprint double in Osaka . The American charged to 200m victory in a championship record 19.76 seconds , pulling away from Jamaica 's Usain Bolt with team-mate Wallace Spearmon taking bronze . Bolt was away quickest but Gay took him on the bend before accelerating down the straight to win with room to spare . Bolt timed 19.91 and Spearmon 20.05 . Gay , who won the 100m on Sunday , becomes only the third athlete to hold both sprint titles after Maurice Greene in 1999 and Justin Gatlin two years ago . It was a remarkable achievement by the season 's outstanding athlete , who went into the 200m competition just 36 hours after winning his 100m showdown with Asafa Powell . Gay has competed on five of the championships ' first six days and had complained of fatigue and a left hamstring twinge . The Kentucky-born 25-year-old finished an agonising fourth behind three US team-mates in 2005 . But he has been sensational this season , blasting to the fastest sprint combination in history after timing 9.84 and 19.62 within two days of each other in June . The 200m time was the second quickest ever seen , 0.3 shy of Michael Johnson 's 1996 record . Gay was embraced at the finish line by Bolt , who was celebrating his first world championships medal . Gay said| : `` Oh , it feels so great . But I am still tired . Maurice Greene is one of my idols and I am proud to do the double like him . `` Usain Bolt came out so fast and I had to work hard to catch him . I should be thankful to him to make this such a fast race . `` I stayed relaxed -- also about the hamstring -- and kept pumping , '' he said . `` I felt the twinge in the warm-up , but during the race it was fine . The 200m was just about believing in God that he would give me the strength . `` I have two golds and I want the third in relay . I beat the meet record of Michael Johnson and that is great feeling because he is also one of my idols . '' Bolt , the Jamaican record-holder , has a history of injury problems , going out in the Athens Olympics heats and missing the Commonwealth Games with a muscle problem . He suffered cramp in the 2005 final and finished dead last . `` I tried hard , but for the moment he is unbeatable . I 'm proud of myself to get the silver for Jamaica . Hey , I 'm one of the best in the world , that is not small , '' said Bolt . Bronze medallist Spearmon , 22 , was runner-up behind Gatlin in 2005 and last year ran 19.65 , the fourth fastest 200m ever seen . Gay and Spearmon 's coach , Lance Brauman , was released from prison on Tuesday after serving a year for embezzlement and mail fraud . Long jumper Irving Saladino claimed Panama 's first ever world championships gold with a dramatic final leap . Saladino , the hot favourite , led all the way until Italy 's Andrew Howe appeared to snatch gold with 8.47 metres in the final round . But the Panamanian responded with a mighty 8.57 to remain unbeaten this season . America 's two-time defending champion and Olympic title-holder Dwight Phillips took bronze with his best effort of 8.30 . Phillips , competing under the watchful eye of US great Carl Lewis , had not been beaten in a major championships since the 2001 worlds in Edmonton . South American record holder Saladino has now won 23 of 25 competitions since finishing sixth at the Helsinki world championships in 2005 . The long jump provided one of the world championships ' best known moments when Mike Powell 's 8.95 broke Bob Beamon 's 23-year-old record in Tokyo in 1991 . E-mail to a friend .
Tyson Gay completes a sprint double at the world championships in Osaka . Hide Caption 8 of 11 Irving Saladino of Panama wins the long jump with 8.57 meters .