A capacity crowd of more than 12,000 filled every nook and cranny of the Sportpark Mladost for the 61st edition of one of Croatia’s premiere sporting events to catch a glimpse of Bolt and four other recently-crowned World champions. But while the meet brought down the curtain on the 2011 IAAF World Challenge series, it didn’t end Bolt’s post-Daegu quest to end his campaign as the season’s fastest over 100 metres.

His performance was a bit faster than his previous 9.88 season’s best from late July’s Samsung Diamond League fixture in Monaco, but still fell short of compatriot Asafa Powell’s 9.78 world leader from the Lausanne leg of the SDL. And the difference was likely lost in Bolt’s self-professed lacklustre start.

“It was a poor start and I kinda lost concentration, but I ran well through the finish,” Bolt said. “I could have done better, particularly with the good weather tonight.”

With the late afternoon’s balmy conditions lingering on into the evening, the conditions were indeed ideal. The double World record holder had a serious race on his hands in the first 60 metres, with World bronze medallist Kim Collins and Trinidad & Tobago’s Richard Thompson giving him some solid competition before Bolt managed to pull away over the final 15 metres.