LONDON — The moment and the crowd of 55,900 at London Stadium were his, and Usain Bolt was inches from a clean getaway on Saturday night.
But there would be no pitch-perfect ending to what Bolt insisted was the final individual race of his unparalleled career.
The gold medal in the 100 meters at the world track and field championships went instead to Justin Gatlin, the 35-year-old American who has long been Bolt’s foil and who had not won a world 100 title since 2005. Gatlin has served two doping suspensions in his career, and the crowd booed him before the race.
He finished in 9.92 seconds, reeling in Christian Coleman, a 21-year-old countryman he has mentored, with a final surge. Coleman, in his first world championships, took the silver in 9.94 seconds.
The bronze went to Bolt, whose time of 9.95 was his slowest in a major 100-meter final. It was also a big stride or two removed from his world record of 9.58, set in Berlin in 2009.
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t end it on a winning note,” said Bolt, who will turn 31 this month.
It seemed hardly fitting, but then neither life nor track meets follow a script. Bolt’s season turned out to be one too far, after his triple-gold-medal performance at last year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2017, and above all on Saturday night, he simply did not deliver the required valedictory speed. But he insisted the defeat did not alter his retirement plans.
“It doesn’t change anything for me,” Bolt said. “I think I lost the race to a great competitor.”
Referring to Coleman, he said: “I came in third to a young kid that is coming up. He has a great talent and great future ahead of him. So no regrets. I came out and did my best. I was always going to end no matter what happened — win, lose or draw. I was always going to walk away. I’ve done all I can do for the sport and for myself. It’s time to go.”
Coleman, who won N.C.A.A. championships in the 100 and 200 this year for the University of Tennessee, managed a first early in the day. He defeated Bolt in a semifinal heat, ending Bolt’s 28-race winning streak in the 100 meters.
But Bolt played it cool, looking theatrically at Coleman before they crossed the finish line, as if to say he would still have more — much more — to give when it mattered most.
Coleman returned Bolt’s glance and went on to beat him out of the blocks again in the final. He was hardly alone: Bolt’s reaction time was the second slowest of the eight finalists. Though he has routinely recovered from such deficits by straightening up his long body and achieving full flight, there would be no compensating this time.
He has often made victory look so easy, even preordained, crossing finish lines at less than full speed with his arms spread wide and a grin on his face.
But there was no margin for grandstanding in this final. As Bolt stretched for the finish line, he was grimacing, his mouth and eyes wide with effort. And as he started to decelerate, his face was full of concern as he looked at the scoreboard for the results.
“After the semifinal with Coleman, I knew if I don’t get my start, I’m going to be in trouble,” Bolt said. “And when I left the blocks, I was like, ‘Awww.’”
It was the first bronze medal for Bolt at a world championships, and it left the crowd buzzing with surprise. People had come to see Bolt off in style, roaring for him as he arrived on the track. Gatlin drew boos as he walked through the tunnel and again as he was introduced at the starting line.
But it turned out to be Gatlin’s moment, too, even when one of his first moves after the victory was to bow down on the track to Bolt.
“At the end of the day, I really didn’t focus on the boos tonight,” Gatlin said. “Throughout all my rounds, I kind of just zoned in on my lane. It’s kind of sad my boos were a little louder than other people’s cheers, but I wanted to keep it classy.”
Gatlin added: “At the end of the race, I bent deep for Usain and paid homage to him. That’s what it is. This night is still a magical night for track and field and for Usain Bolt. He’s done so much.”
By the force of his talent and personality, Bolt has long been the sport’s seminal figure.
He still plans to compete next Saturday in the 4x100-meter relay for Jamaica, but the heaviest lifting is now done unless Bolt changes his plans.
“My dad said he’s going to give me a year off and then I’m going to come back, but I don’t think so,” Bolt said, shaking his head and grinning on the eve of Saturday’s race.
Though his rare defeat at London Stadium was deflating, his career has been an against-the-odds joy ride at a time when track and field has been buffeted by doping and credibility crises. Though many of his rivals and some of his Jamaican compatriots have been suspended for violations, Bolt has never been sanctioned or tested positive for a banned substance.
He is one of three men to have won three world 100-meter titles — the Americans Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene are the others. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, another Jamaican, has won three world titles in the women’s 100.
But no great runner has ever possessed Bolt’s mix of race-day playfulness and ruthlessness. He has been as good at communicating with the big crowds who have paid to see him (and often only him) as he has been adept at shutting down all opposition on the grandest occasions.
He swept the 100 and the 200 at each of the past three Olympics, an unprecedented feat. He also has won four world titles in the 200, though he chose not to compete in that event, long his favorite, in London this year.
Since 2008, when he became a global star at the Beijing Olympics, he has lost only two individual finals at major championships. The first came in 2011, when he beat himself by false starting in the final of the 100 meters at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea.
The second came on Saturday night in London — in the same stadium where he won three gold medals at the 2012 Olympics.
Bolt has won as an overwhelming favorite, as he did at the world championships in Berlin in 2009, where he set the 100 and 200 world records that still stand.
He also has won — repeatedly — despite less-than-ideal preparation and legitimate concerns about his form.
He had run three 100-meter races this year before London, breaking 10 seconds in only one of them, when he won in 9.95 seconds in Monaco last month.
He was vulnerable, no doubt, but in the past, with the spotlight at its brightest, he still found the speed and the will to remain the fastest man in the world. This time, he faltered, and even as he was left behind, he was also leaving a void.
For Bolt’s sport, filling his golden spikes will be a monumental challenge.
