World Athletics Championships 2017: Justin Gatlin beats Usain Bolt to 100m gold – as it happened

The American sprinter triumphed against the odds in a huge upset at the London Stadium

There was no fairytale ending for Usain Bolt as he was beaten by convicted drug cheat Justin Gatlin in his last 100m World final. The fastest man on the planet for so long finished third in front of a sold-out London Stadium. It wasn’t the result the fans craved, and they booed American Gatlin, who has twice served bans for doping.

So Bolt, the greatest sprinter in history, ended his championship career with a mere bronze after his gold rush on the track. “He has been a blessing to athletics,” former British star Darren Campbell said after Bolt won clocked a modest 9.95 sec, behind Christian Coleman’s 9.94 and Gatlin’s 9.92. “He had saved the sport. Let’s not lie about this, it’s only because everybody goes, ‘Bolt’s clean’ that it has been able to continue.” Since becoming its figurehead as a 21-year-year old in 2008, Bolt has carried track and field on his broad shoulders. Not quite single-handedly. Mo Farah and Jess Ennis-Hill, to name but two, would have something to say about that. But he the Jamaican been a glorious constant: an athlete as flamboyant off the track as he is devastating on it, who has delivered come rain or shine. Bolt won 136 in 144 races since the start of 2008. His previous championship defeat? Well, if you discount the world final in 2011 when he false started, his silver medal in the World 200m final in 2007.

 Since then he has amassed a dozen gold medals at the Worlds and completed the triple-triple at the Olympics; albeit he lost one relay gong from 2008 after team-mate Nesta Carter tested positive. And he has done it with the sort of showbiz touch that has kept his ailing sport going. No wonder IAAF boss Seb Coe says athletics’ biggest challenge post-Bolt is to “stay relevant”. Javelin ace Steve Backley said. “Usain has made the front pages, he’s made the back pages. “He’s got that x-factor. He walks into a stadium and the whole place comes to life. “Blue riband event, Jamaican, cool. He’s the guy everyone looks at. He’s a one-off alright.” Who else would have had the front to arrive here with ‘Forever Fastest’ emblazoned on his purple and gold spikes? Inside the London Stadium last night there was utter disappointment that the flawed figure of Gatlin triumphed.