Prime Minister Bruce Golding has described the performance of Jamaica's sprint king Usain Bolt, as extraterrestrial.

Golding, who spoke to Bolt shortly after he shattered the 100-metres world record at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany, on Sunday, said the speedster "perfor-med like he was from outer space".

The prime minister asked Bolt how much faster he intended to run in a 100-metre race, and the champion responded: "I'm coming home to work on it."

Golding congratulated him on the sensational run of 9.58 seconds, the fastest time in which a human being has covered 100 metres.

Proud of asafa

He also spoke to bronze medallist Asafa Powell, who overcame his big-race jitters to finish third in a season's best time of 9.84 seconds, behind American Tyson Gay, who clocked the United States national record of 9.71 seconds.

"I told Asafa how proud I was that he had found his form; that he was back in the fray," Golding said. "I told him I knew that he had been through a rough period when he might have at times questioned his own capacity, but that he had demonstrated that he is a champion with this performance."

The prime minister added: "I was also very encouraged by the words that Asafa had to say of Usain's achievements."

Culture, youth and sports minister Olivia Grange was at trackside to greet the sprinters as they took the historic victory lap.

He's a legend

Jamaica's Usain Bolt, gold medalist

She told Bolt that he was a rare human being who would stand with the greatest of all time from every genre of sport. She said his desire to become a legend in the sport was a project firmly on course and promised him that Jamaica would once again welcome him and the other athletes home with all the pomp and circumstance befitting the "kings and queens of athletics".

Grange heaped praises on Powell, after locking him in a very emotional embrace. She told him: "You are special. You have showed the fight and determination that you needed to get to the podium. This performance proves that you are a champion. I am so proud of you."