You may never see a greater anti-climax. In this one, the world champion was jeered while the darling of the global crowd was acclaimed as the hero. Gatlin won in a time of 9.92 secs, with his fellow American Christian Coleman second in 9.94secs and Bolt third (9.95secs).
There was no animosity down there on the track, but a Gatlin win, at 35, was an embarrassment to athletics, where there was a rash of scandals after the 2012 London Olympics in this very stadium. Gatlin is by no means the only top athlete who has been given a second or third chance.
Bolt was left with only a bronze in his final individual 100m race as 21-year-old Christian Coleman made it a USA one-two.
The 35-year-old Gatlin, twice banned for doping, came through almost unnoticed in lane seven in 9.92 seconds, with Coleman's 9.94 holding off the greatest sprinter of all time.
The stadium took a little revenge of their own, chanting, "Usain Bolt! Usain Bolt!" as the result began to sink in.
But this was a deserved victory in its execution if not its formation, a last hurrah for a man like gatlin that many in the sport wished no longer had the chance to compete.
There was no animosity down there on the track, but a Gatlin win, at 35, was an embarrassment to athletics, where there was a rash of scandals after the 2012 London Olympics in this very stadium. Gatlin is by no means the only top athlete who has been given a second or third chance.
Bolt was left with only a bronze in his final individual 100m race as 21-year-old Christian Coleman made it a USA one-two.
The 35-year-old Gatlin, twice banned for doping, came through almost unnoticed in lane seven in 9.92 seconds, with Coleman's 9.94 holding off the greatest sprinter of all time.
The stadium took a little revenge of their own, chanting, "Usain Bolt! Usain Bolt!" as the result began to sink in.
But this was a deserved victory in its execution if not its formation, a last hurrah for a man like gatlin that many in the sport wished no longer had the chance to compete.
