Gatlin’s 100 time corrected; now shares in world record

LONDON – Not so fast, Justin.

American sprinter Justin Gatlin thought he broke the 100-meter world record last Friday at the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha, earning the title of world’s fastest man.

It turns out he only equaled the record, and will have to share it with Jamaican rival Asafa Powell.

A timing error prompted the sport’s governing body Wednesday to take away Gatlin’s announced record of 9.76 seconds.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said his time was recorded at 9.766, and should have been manually rounded up to 9.77.

Gatlin’s time has been adjusted to 9.77 and, pending ratification, will equal Powell’s mark set in June 2005.

“It is very disappointing to me that it has taken five days to determine the official time of a race with this significance,” Gatlin said in a statement.

The IAAF uses times recorded to one-hundredth of a second, with figures always rounded up.