Moses was famously unbeaten in 122 consecutive races, stretching from 26 August 1977 to 4 June 1987 - a total of nine years, nine months and nine days.
With similarly sweet symmetry, in Rome he came up against the men who had beaten him on those two occasions - German Harald Schmid and American Danny Harris.
With Harris having broken that run just weeks before, many sensed the balance of power had shifted for good by the time of the World Championship final.
Not Moses.
The three great rivals came down the final straight with Moses out in front. It stayed that way until the final hurdle, when the 32-year-old began to tie up. Harris came back at him and them Schmid, nowhere at halfway, found a late burst.
Grimacing, Moses pumped his arms and hung on by a fraction - the winner in a new championship record of 47.46secs, just two hundredths of a second in front of Harris and Schmid, who were given the same time.
To put Moses' time in context, Angelo Taylor won Olympic gold last summer in Sydney with a time of 47.50secs.
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