Greene celebrated by throwing t-shirts bearing the legend PhenoMOnon into the 50,000-strong crowd. It was hard to dispute the nickname.

It was the first time the sprint double had been achieved at the Worlds, and the first time it had been done at a global championship since Carl Lewis won four gold medals at the 1984 Olympics.

Some carped that the achievement was devalued by the absence of reigning champ Ato Boldon, 1997 runner-up Frankie Fredericks and world record holder Michael Johnson.

But Greene had to come through eight rounds of sprints to take the two titles, and would later add 100m relay gold to become the most decorated athlete in Championship history.