Tyson Gay completed a sprint double at the World Championships with victory in Thursday's 200m.

The American star surged down the home straight to pull clear of main rival Usain Bolt and win in a new championship record of 19.76secs.

Jamaican youngster Bolt, so impressive in the qualifying rounds, held his own around the curve but then saw Gay pull clear in the second 100m.

Gay, who revealed he had felt his hamstring twinge during the warm-up, follows in the footsteps of Maurice Greene (1999) and the disgraced Justin Gatlin (2005), both of whom completed the world sprint double.

"It feels so great," said Gay. "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."

Bolt took silver in 19.91 with Gay's team-mate Wallace Spearmon claiming bronze. He just pipped another American, Rodney Martin, by one hundreth of a second, running 20.05 to Martin's 20.06.

Gay added he now wanted to complete a golden treble in Osaka.

"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. I believe it is possible to beat his world record, but I have to build up more strength."