ROME: Olympic champion Usain Bolt’s rare defeat over 100 metres in Rome late on Thursday was not down to a flare-up of the hamstring injury which has hampered his start to the season.
Bolt was beaten into second place at the Diamond League meeting, 0.01 seconds behind London Games bronze medallist Justin Gatlin who won in 9.94.
Despite a good start, world record holder Bolt looked laboured and was unable to pull away from the field giving Gatlin the chance to edge a thrilling race.
However, the Jamaican appeared unconcerned by the outcome in a news conference spending much of the time shaking his head at a results sheet.
“I didn’t feel it (the hamstring) at all during the race. It felt sore after but that was expected. But it isn’t a concern for me,” said a relaxed Bolt, whose previous outing over the distance was in the Cayman Islands last month where he recorded a relatively pedestrian 10.09.
“I came into this race trying to figure out where I was. Now I need to go back and watch the tape to see where I went wrong and come back better next time.
“I got a great start. My fifth step was kind of bad and I stumbled a bit. The last 50 (metres) I thought would be better. I just need to go home and work out what it is I need to do.”
Gatlin by his standards got a slow start but was ahead at halfway and held on for victory.
“It felt good, it’s going to be a long season. I’m working on my race strategy and trying to stay healthy,” said Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic champion and 2005 double world sprint champion who served a four-year doping ban before returning to athletics in 2010.
“I’m just trying to get my start back and make sure that the middle of my race is good.”
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Allyson Felix settled for second in the women’s 200m where Murielle Ahoure of Ivory Coast clocked a new national record on her way to the win.
The African made the most of the absence of Jamaicans Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Olympic silver medallist in London, and Sherone Simpson to clock a time of 22.36.
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