British superstar Mo Farah won the first gold medal of the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships on Friday and retained his 10,000-metre title, while Usain Bolt eased into the men's 100-metre semi-finals at the Olympic Stadium.

After topping the podium in Moscow in 2013 and Russia in 2015, Farah raced to 10,000-metre glory in front of a home London crowd with a time of 26 minutes, 49.51 seconds, beating Ugandan runner-up Joshua Cheptegei and Kenyan bronze medal-winner Paul Tanui.

Bolt ran a time of 10.08 seconds in his heat without really stepping out of second gear, while compatriot Yohan Blake and Christian Coleman of the United States also progressed from the preliminary round.

Read on for a roundup of all the action from the opening night of the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships as Farah pushed Great Britain into an early lead atop the competition's medal table.

Recap

There was a sense of tension at the Olympic Stadium as to whether Farah, at the age of 34, could still prove himself as the best in the world in long-distance running, and the Olympic champion responded with a patient display on home soil.

The veteran was lodged among a mass of opponents until he was two laps from the finish, when he embarked on an inspirational break from his peers to retain world gold, per the official IAAF Twitter account:

Farah played his tactics to perfection and survived a late stumble after clipping heels with one of his Kenyan competitors, even appearing to slow down intentionally near the finish in an effort to bait those around him.

It's a plan that came off to perfection as the Briton's final lap flew by with a sprint finish, and German outlet DW Sports provided a breakdown of his incredible gold-medal haul by competition:

While Farah gasped his way to a lung-busting victory over 10,000 metres, Bolt looked as though he was barely out of breath after topping the pile in his 100-metre heat with a time of 10.08 seconds.

There's clearly more to come from the 30-year-old as he looks to add to his haul of 11 gold medals at the World Athletics Championships, and he told as much in a post-race interview with BBC Sport:

University of Tennessee student Coleman ran even faster than the Jamaican in his qualifying run and clocked a time of 10.01 seconds, although he wasn't getting overly excited with his result just yet:

Another name to watch for from the 100-metre heats is Japan's Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who at the age of 18 was mesmerising as he finished in 10.05 seconds, beating Blake's 10.13 seconds in an impressive debut.

It was a positive night's work for the British sprinters in the field, too, after BBC 5 live Sport confirmed James Dasaolu, Reece Prescod and Chijindu Ujah all progressed to the next stage of qualification:

The same couldn't be said for the American long jumpers, however, including reigning Olympic champion Jeff Henderson, as the BBC's Tom Fordyce detailed a poor display for the field stars:

In the women's 1500 metres, Briton Sarah McDonald looked emotional when told by BBC Sport that she had made it through to the semi-finals of the event as a fastest loser, running a time of four minutes, 5.48 seconds.

She said: "No. Really? The noise was incredible and I'm so happy I'm through. I can't quite believe it yet. I knew it was a tough ask because it is my first World Championships."

Compatriot Laura Weightman finished the heat fourth and wasn't far behind winner Faith Kipyegon, each of whom will consider themselves among the contenders to progress from Saturday's semis.