Villain Justin Gatlin stuns Usain Bolt, wins world 100m in all-time great upset

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There were no lightning strikes in London on Saturday.

Usain Bolt, competing in what is believed to be his final competitive individual 100m, finished third in the marquee sprint event at the IAAF World Championships on Saturday night in front of a packed crowd. American Justin Gatlin, who for years has run in Bolt’s shadow, won a nail-biter in 9.92. Christian Coleman finished second in 9.94 as Bolt, who clocked 9.95, a seasonal best, could not rebound from a slow start. It was a 1-2 finish for the Americans.

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Gatlin, often billed as the villain, produced one of the great upsets in athletics history, defeating the eight-time Olympic champion and world record holder. The 35-year-old American has on multiple occasions served doping bans, often the source of reasoning for the crowd’s displeasure when he is introduced pre-race. He is the 2004 Olympic 100m champion.

Gatlin is the perfect villain, and acts the part in London, beating Bolt by a lean for the greatest upset in track history #London2017 pic.twitter.com/97Y4wGjhZS

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) August 5, 2017

For Bolt, the race marked an end, in terms of his individual races, to an era. He will still compete in the men’s 4x100m relay for Jamaica, the world record holders, a 2012 mark set at the same venue as London 2017, later this championships.

Video

In an upset, American Justin Gatlin wins gold in the 100m final vs. Usain Bolt #London2017 #BeTheNexthttps://t.co/ddIzVtUbA6 pic.twitter.com/yY6jRUAZGx

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 5, 2017

Results

1	1395	Justin GATLIN	USA	9.92 SB	0.138
2	1386	Christian COLEMAN	USA	9.94	0.123
3	1075	Usain BOLT	JAM	9.95 SB	0.183
4	1074	Yohan BLAKE	JAM	9.99	0.137
5	1281	Akani SIMBINE	RSA	10.01	0.141
6	943	Jimmy VICAUT	FRA	10.08	0.152
7	976	Reece PRESCOD	GBR	10.17	0.145
8	778	Bingtian SU	CHN	10.27	0.224