You know what they say, “what goes up must come down.”
Not going to go as far as to say this is the beginning of the end of Usain Bolt’s dominance of men’s sprinting (because it probably isn’t), but it is definitely a shocking result.
The Jamaican sprinter suffered a defeat to American Justin Gatlin, in the 100m race in Rome’s Golden Gala meeting today. Gatlin edged the reigning Olympic 100m champion and record holder, when he finished the race in 9.94 seconds with Bolt finishing in 9.95.
After the race Bolt didn’t make any excuses or seem that concerned.
“It was just one of those things. At the end it was just not me. At least I got under 10 seconds this time.”
Gatlin, who won bronze in the London last summer, seemed ecstatic while complimenting his rival and also putting things in its proper perspective.
“It feels good,” he said, with an eye on the world championships. “Usain Bolt is a great competitor and a great athlete but I just want to be confident and dominant when I run. But you can never count out Usain. He lost both the 100m and 200m in his national championships last year and he came out and won Olympic golds in both events.”
Check the race out here:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9j1H6SEWgw?feature=player_embedded&w=640&h=360]