SALONIKA: Former world champion Tyson Gay sprinted to victory in the 100m at the IAAF World Athletics final on Saturday, but was overshadowed by superstar Usain Bolt, who wasn't even competing.

Bolt, the triple Olympic and world champion, is set to compete in the 200m, but he made a brief appearance on the track to take the applause of the 25,000 fans. American Gay won the 100m in 9.88sec with former world record-holder Asafa Powell in second spot, the Jamaican clocking 9.90sec.

Yelena Isinbayeva, the Olympic champion and world record holder in the women's pole vault, won her fifth World Athletics Final with a 4.80m clearance, well short of her 5.06m world mark set in Zurich last month. In the men's 3,000m, where he has been unbeaten since September 2006, Kenenisa Bekele claimed another victory. Bekele won in 8min 03.79sec ahead of America's Bernard Lagat. The Ethiopian double world and Olympic champion at 5,000m and 10,000m then said he would skip Sunday's 5,000m and end his season due to to fatigue.