Usain Bolt hails 'great competitor' Justin Gatlin after American wins 100m gold in London

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Tom Dutton6 August 2017

Usain Bolt hailed Justin Gatlin as "a great competitor" after losing his last 100m final to the American.

Bolt has three Olympic golds and three world titles over the distance and arrived in London hoping to maintain his unbeaten record in major 100m finals.

But the sprint star could not add to the World Championship golds he won in Berlin, Moscow and Beijing as Gatlin - booed throughout after his previous doping bans - stooped across the line in 9.92 seconds.

Christian Coleman finished second and Bolt took bronze after another slow start.

The result was not immediately clear, with the crowd waiting to see the scoreboard, but when it showed the result it left the London Stadium in stunned silence before they began to chant Bolt's name as Gatlin celebrated.

Bolt said: "He [Gatlin] is a great competitor. I've always said that about Justin Gatlin. You have to be at your best and I wasn't and that's what I respect about him because he competes and I really appreciate competing with him.

"He's an excellent person, as far as I'm concerned. He's good at it and just a good person."

The American was the pantomime villain throughout the competition, having previously been banned for doping violations in 2001 and 2006.

Usain Bolt - In pictures

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But the 2004 100m Olympic champion insisted he blocked out the jeers and thanked Bolt.

"The crowd, I tuned out through the rounds. I stayed the course, I kept my energy through the semi and did what I had to do," Gatlin told BBC Two.

"The people who love me are here cheering for me, they're at home cheering, my countrymen are cheering for me and that's what I've been focusing on.

"It's just a surreal moment. I thought about the things I would do if I did win - I did none of that. It was 2004 all over again. I won by a little margin so to be able to come across the line and have that excitement... It's still an amazing night.

"It's Usain Bolt's last race. To be able to run against him through the years is just amazing.

"We're rivals on the track but in the warm-up area we're joking and the first thing he said to me was, 'Congratulations'. He said, 'You don't deserve all these boos'. I thank him for inspiring me throughout my career and he's an amazing man.

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