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| Usain Bolt : Image Courtesy |
(Courtesy Of CNN Sports ) -- Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt was
beaten into second place by Justin Gatlin in the 100 meters at the
Diamond League's Rome meeting.
The Jamaican, who won
three sprint gold medals at the London Games, lost out to his American
rival who clocked a time of 9.94 seconds. Bolt finished 0.01 secs
behind.
Bolt was making his first
appearance in the competition this season after a hamstring injury kept
him out of previous events in Qatar and Oregon.
"I got the perfect start
that I wanted, then about five steps in I stumbled a little bit and that
kind of threw my game off," Bolt told the BBC.
"My legs didn't feel like
my legs coming into the straight. It's one of those things. I need to
do more strength work, I guess. At least I got under 10 seconds.
"I think I just need time
to get it back together, this season for some reason it goes right back
to ground zero. I think the fact I got a good start threw me off, then I
was all over the place and at the end it just wasn't me."
Bolt enshrined his legacy
as a sprint great when he successfully defended his 100m, 200m titles
at the 2012 Olympics, as well as the 4x100m relay with his Jamaican
team.
He recently spoke of his
desire to do the same at the Rio Games in 2016, which he predicted will
be his last appearance at the event.
Gatlin, who served a four-year ban after testing positive for banned substances, was satisfied to beat the world record holder.
"It feels good," he told the BBC. "I put together my race strategy, and I'm not really worried about who is in the race.
"Usain Bolt is a great
competitor and great champion so to come out here and have a victory it
just stands that I'm having a good season.
"I just want to be
confident and dominant when I run no matter what the time is. It's not
about 9.6 or 9.7 at this point in time it's about putting on a great
show for the fans.
"You can never count out
Usain, he lost both races at his nationals last year and came back and
was Olympic champion in both races. You just have to go in there with a
great strategy and hope it works."