LONDON, Sporting Alert — Usain Bolt had his departure party spoiled by Justin Gatlin after the American beat him in the final of the men’s 100 meters at the 2017 IAAF World Championships here in London on Saturday.
Although the defeat wasn’t very shocking to many who had already predicted that Bolt would have struggled to defend his title, not a lot of people had picked Gatlin to do the spoiling on the world record holder’s farewell sending off.
In what turned out to be a very tight finish, Gatlin held off his rivals at the line to win gold in 9.92 seconds.
NCAA champion and rising American sprinter Christian Coleman took the silver medal in 9.94 seconds with Bolt, who was unable to make up grounds after his slow start, grabbing the bronze in 9.95.
Gatlin, who is still being tarnished by his doping past, was booed in London during and after the race.
The American, however, was congratulated by Bolt, who remained the centre of attraction with the large gathering.
Jamaican 2011 world champion Yohan Blake finished fourth in 9.99 seconds with fifth place going to Akani Simbine of South African in 10.01.
Completing the final places were Jimmy Vicaut (10.08) in sixth, Reece Prescod (10.17) and Bingtian Su (10.27).
Gary Smith is one of the leading writers for World-Track.org. He has over 10 years of running experience, as well as eight-years of coaching while covering several events, from the international to college level. Smith, who has covered events for publications such as Caribbean Net News, Cayman Net News, AFP and Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), is also a frequent contributor of SportingAlert.com and TrackAlerts.com.
