Bolt's showmanship is legendary. And it's such a big part of his appeal. So is his knack for putting on that show when the stage was the biggest and the lights were the brightest. Bursting onto the scene with three gold medals (and three world records) at the Beijing Olympics. Then lowering those world records to unthinkable levels at the 2009 World Championships. Another Olympic triple in London, then completing the "triple-triple" in Rio (even though one of those gold medals has since been taken away, that seems to matter little).
When Bolt announced that this would be his final season and the World Championships would be his last meet, everyone expected lightning to strike again. This is Usain Bolt we're talking about, after all. That's what he does. The fans come to see him, and he responds by giving them what they want.
He decided not to run the 200 meters this season, meaning the 100-meter final on Saturday night would be the final individual race of his career. Mo Farah, the second-biggest name in the sport, opened the Championships on Friday night by winning the gold in his final 10,000-meter race. Surely Bolt would do the same thing in the 100. There was no other way for him to go out. Right?
Well, as it turns out, the ending was scripted a little differently. And, in a way, the finale was almost fitting. Because after all these years of trying and coming up futile, somebody finally beat Usain Bolt. After finishing second (or third) behind Bolt so many times, Justin Gatlin finally crossed the line before him.
Gatlin's already won an Olympic gold medal (in 2004) and a World Championship (2005) in his career. But ever since Bolt arrived on the scene, he's been playing second fiddle. Gatlin has given no indication he plans on retiring anytime soon. We'll likely see him in Tokyo and, if I had to guess, he'll also run in the 2021 World Championships in Oregon before calling it a career. There could definitely be more gold medals in his future. But, fairly or not, those will have an asterisk attached to them. They'll be gold medals won P.B. (Post Bolt).
That's what has to be the most satisfying part of this World Championship for Gatlin. Not only is he back on the top step of the podium, he finally got the best of Bolt. For all the frustration of losing to him time and time again, Gatlin earned his sweetest victory of all. Because the 50,000 people at London's Olympic Stadium (the same place that saw him get silver behind Bolt five years ago) came to see Bolt win one last World title in his final race. Except Justin Gatlin spoiled their party. Bolt, so dominant for all these years, had to settle for the bronze.
Usain Bolt won the bronze! That was the headline. Not Gatlin wins. Not USA goes 1-2. Nope. The story was Bolt loses.
OK. So Bolt lost. So what? Let's not kid ourselves. It does nothing to tarnish his legacy. Michael Phelps won 23 Olympic gold medals, but he also has two silvers and three bronzes in his collection. He also finished fourth and sixth in Olympic finals once. Do those seven losses suddenly not make Michael Phelps the greatest swimmer ever? Of course not! Same thing here. Usain Bolt didn't suddenly lose his Greatest of All-Time moniker just because he now has a bronze to go with all those golds. That's why, right after the results flashed on the scoreboard and he saw he had won, Gatlin bowed down to Bolt.
One of the reasons Bolt gave for wanting to retire now was because he didn't want to end up like one of those athletes who hung around too long. He wanted to go out on top. While that didn't happen, it, in a way, validated his decision to step away now. Usain Bolt actually lost. What was once unfathomable became a reality. The unbeatable sprinter was beaten. It's not going to become a regular thing, though. He's made sure of that.
This isn't the last we'll see of Usain Bolt. He'll run the anchor leg on Jamaica's 4x100 relay squad, so he can still get that perfect ending. But the ending on Saturday night was perfect for somebody else. Justin Gatlin, frustrated by Bolt for so long, raced his rival for the last time. It was his last chance, and he made the most of it. He finally came out on top. He finally beat Usain Bolt.
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