A busy meet in Shanghai on Sunday saw Tyson Gay inch closer to Usain Bolt, Canada's Perdita Felicien win a bronze medal and Carmelita Jeter become the second-fastest woman in history.
And let's not forget the triumphant return of a certain beloved Chinese hurdler to the track.
But first: Gay equalled the second-fastest 100-metre race in history at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, clocking in at 9.69 seconds to win the event.
Tyson Gay of the U.S. stunned the field, including countryman Darvis Patton, with a 9.69 in Shanghai. (Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press) The time matches Bolt's winning clip at the 2008 Olympics — which was a world mark at the time — but it's still 0.11 seconds slower than Bolt's record-shattering 9.58 at the world championships in August.
Gay finished ahead of Jamaica's Asafa Powell, who took second in 9.85. American Darvis Patton finished third in 9.89. Bolt didn't compete in the event.
Canada's Perdita Felicien also had a standout day, taking bronze in the women's 100-metre hurdles.
The former world champion from Pickering, Ont., clocked in at 12.73. Brigette Foster-Hylton of Jamaica beat out American Dawn Harper for gold in a photo finish after both clocked in at 12.56.
American Carmelita Jeter also blistered down the track in her 100-metre final, as she became the second-fastest woman of all time while winning in 10.64.
She trails only the late Florence Griffith-Joyner, who still holds the world record of 10.49 set in 1988. Jeter overtook disgraced runner Marion Jones for second, improving on her time of 10.65 set at altitude in Johannesburg in 1998.
Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown was second behind Jeter on Sunday, clocking in at 10.89.
But for the locals nothing came close to seeing their hallowed track star Liu Xiang make a return to the 110-metre hurdles, looking no worse for wear after a dramatic exit from the Beijing Olympics.
China's Liu Xiang, left, and American Terrence Trammell compete in Shanghai on Sunday. (Andy Wong/Associated Press) Xiang received boisterous applause from his hometown crowd after finishing second in the final behind American Terrance Trammell in a close photo finish.
Trammel and Xiang clocked in at a respectable 13.15 seconds in Xiang's first race since a foot injury forced him to pull out of the 2008 Olympics, crushing a country who grew to idolize him.
He is still one of China's most popular athletes after winning China's first Olympic gold medal in track at the Athens Games in 2004.
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva tried to improve her world record but failed to clear 5.07 metres. She still won Sunday's meet with a vault of 4.85.
In the men's 200 metres, Wallace Spearmon pulled away comfortably in the last half to win in 20.57.
World champion Lashawn Merritt of the U.S. won the 400 metres in 45.28.
Kenya's Augustine Choge unleashed his kick in the final 200 meters in the men's 800 and cruised away from South Africa's Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who won at the worlds. Choge finished in 1:44.10 seconds, while Mulaudzi clocked 1:45.68.
Amine Laalou of Morocco won the 1,500 metres with a blistering surge that began in the final 200 metres, finishing in 3:34.19.
Jamaican world champion Melaine Walker won the women's 400 hurdles in 54.68. Romania's Angela Morosanu was leading around the final turn but placed second in 55.11 as Walker kicked past her in the final stretch. Poland's Anna Jesien placed third in 55.29.
With files from The Canadian Press