LONDON (AP) — With Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson in the 100 meters, it was supposed to be double sprint gold for Jamaica by now. Instead, it’s the United States that leads 2-0 at the world championships.
With a desperate final lunge on Sunday, Tori Bowie dipped at the line to edge Marie-Josee Ta Lou by .01 seconds and win in 10.85.
Once across and off balance, the American sprinter fell onto the track and didn’t have a clue who had won.
“The dive doesn’t feel too good now,” said Bowie, who added gold to her Olympic silver from last year. “I never give up until I am over the line.”
Dafne Schippers, the 2015 world champion in the 200, took bronze in 10.96.
Thompson, the Olympic champion from last year, came into the race as a big favorite. Sporting a flower bow in her headband and purple lipstick to stand out, she was never a factor and finished fifth in 10.98.
“I didn’t execute my race, which is a shame, but I’m healthy,” Thompson said. “I don’t know what went wrong.”
On Saturday, Justin Gatlin won the men’s 100, beating Bolt.
The stunning reversal of Jamaica’s sprint fortunes was highlighted by the fact that it didn’t have a medalist in the women’s 100 for the first time in 14 years.
OK, so Gatlin may have ruined Usain Bolt’s going-away party with his surprise win in the 100 meters at the world championships on Saturday night. Gatlin still did his best to soften the blow by bowing down to third-place finisher Bolt on his way off the track — a way of telling the people he knows what the Jamaican great has done for his sport.
“I have nothing but respect for him,” said Gatlin, who, at 35, is five years Bolt’s senior. “Even with me being older than him, he’s such an inspiration for me.”
Gatlin was booed at almost every turn this week in London — during introductions, at any time when his face showed up on the big screen, and never louder than when his name popped up on the top of the scoreboard as the winner in Bolt’s farewell 100-meter race at the worlds.
By now, Gatlin is used to it. With his doping past — his suspension ended in 2010 — the American has long been portrayed as the bad guy set against Bolt’s charismatic, fun-loving personality.
At the medal ceremony for Saturday’s 100 meters, Bolt received massive applause for his bronze medal and American silver medalist Christian Coleman was also warmly greeted by the crowd of about 60,000 spectators.
However, when Gatlin came up to receive his gold medal from IAAF President Sebastian Coe, the derisive booing returned but there was also a smattering of applause — some of it from Bolt. The negative intensity didn’t quite reach the peaks of the previous days when Gatlin ran.
Gatlin was Olympic champion in 2004, four years before Bolt’s reign, and world champion in 2017, with Bolt on the way out. Gatlin even borrowed some of Bolt’s tactics, too, surging from behind with a fantastic finishing kick to overtake Bolt and Coleman, a fellow University of Tennessee product and new silver medalist. Gatlin’s time, 9.92 seconds, wasn’t all that electric. But this was all about the win.
“It’s just so surreal right now,” Gatlin said. “Usain said, ‘Congratulations, you deserve it.’ And that’s from the man himself. He knows how hard I work.”
Bolt paid respect, too, and said the stereotypical casting of Gatlin as a villain has grown stale.
“He’s done his time and worked to be one of the best athletes,” Bolt said. “He’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever competed with. I know if I don’t show up, he’s always gonna win.”
Two years ago at worlds, it almost happened.
Gatlin made a tactical mistake in Beijing, going into his lean too early as Bolt won by 0.01 seconds. Hurtful as the loss was, an episode the next day during the medals ceremony was worse. Gatlin could be seen pointing toward the stands and chastising a fan. Turns out, that fan was heckling his mother.
Gatlin finished runner-up to Bolt at last year’s Olympics. Given the stakes for Bolt in London, this competition figured to be a race for second.
Turns out, there was more left in the tank for Gatlin, who says he has no immediate plans to retire and could be around for the 2020 Tokyo Games.
“I’m going to take it year by year and race by race,” Gatlin said. “I’ll see where it takes me.”