Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: Usain Bolt, Athletics
Ryan Baldi
Over the course of his 13-year professional sprinting career, Usain Bolt etched a legacy as one of the greatest athletes of all time. But a bizarre end to his final race before retirement meant he didn't get the send-off his glory-filled career deserved.
The Jamaican sprint king won eight Olympic gold medals between 2008 and 2016, including back-to-back-to-back triumphs in the 100m and the 200m.
He also smashed the world records in his two primary events. The all-time fastest finishes in the 100m (9.58 seconds) and 200m (19.19 seconds) at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin have still never been beaten, despite the efforts of elite sprinters such as current Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in the years since.
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Bolt was not only one of the most accomplished sportspeople in the world at his peak, he was also one of the most popular and charismatic, thrilling audiences with his beaming smile and trademark celebration and parlaying his popularity into lucrative endorsement deals with Puma, Gatorade, Virgin Media and others.
When Bolt lined up for what was to be his last-ever individual race in the 100m final at the 2017 World Championships in London – in the same stadium where he'd win three Olympic gold medals five years earlier – fans hoped to see the 6ft 5ins superstar walk off into the sunset with a fitting final triumph.
Yet Bolt finished only third, 0.1 seconds behind American sprinter Christian Coleman and 0.3 seconds behind the winner, controversial US star Justin Gatlin, who took gold with a time of 9.92 seconds.
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The disappointment of seeing Bolt's illustrious career end with a victory for Gatlin – who was twice banned for doping violations – did not go down well with fans inside the London Stadium, who booed the result.
“I was just confused,” recalled British sprinter Reece Prescod, who finished seventh of eight runners in the final.
“Normally after a race everyone just claps, but this was weird. It felt like we’d all done something wrong. And then Bolt started his lap of honour so they were still booing, but then cheering at the same time. I didn’t know what was going on.”
Gatlin's win snapped a four-year winning streak for Bolt and handed the Jamaican a first loss at a major championship since defeat in a relay event at the 2007 World Championships.
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Bolt later competed in one final race as he took the anchor leg for Jamaica in the 4x100m relay. But that ended in disappointment, too, as the sprint GOAT pulled up with a hamstring injury 50m from the finish line.