Track: Gatlin sets 100-meter world mark

DOHA, Qatar — Olympic champion. World champion. Justin Gatlin has added world-record holder to his list of accomplishments.

The American sprinter surpassed the 100-meter record Friday with a time of 9.76 seconds at the Qatar Grand Prix. He shaved one-hundredth of a second off the mark of 9.77 set by Jamaica's Asafa Powell on June 14, 2005, in Athens, Greece.

"This was a perfect race," Gatlin said. "I am a competitor and I promised I would get the world record and I have done it. I don't go for world records. They come to me."

Gatlin won the 100 and 200 at the world championships in Helsinki, Finland, in August. The 24-year-old said Monday he intended to surpass the record in Doha, where the race was run at night under floodlights to avoid the extreme daytime heat. It was 82 degrees at race time.

"It is amazing I did it," Gatlin said. "It took a lot of discipline and dedication. You will see many more performances like this from me in the future."

Gatlin was quick out of the starting blocks and running even with Nigeria's Olusoji Fasuba for the first 50 meters. Only in the last 40 meters did Gatlin surge to the lead.

"I was thinking, be patient ... and bring it home," Gatlin said. "I put a lot of heart into the race. Now I can say I'm the fastest in the world, and it feels great."

Fasuba finished second in 9.84 — an African record — with Shawn Crawford of the United States third in 10.08.

Gatlin went to the stands and hugged members of the U.S. team, including Allyson Felix — the women's 200-meter world champion. The crowd of about 10,000 gave him a standing ovation.

"She gave me the biggest hug," Gatlin said of Felix. "It felt like we did it and the team did it."

He knelt on the track with a bouquet of flowers presented by a Qatari hostess and posed for photographs next to the scoreboard showing his time.

For setting the record, Gatlin gets a $100,000 bonus from the International Association of Athletics Federations. The Qatar federation said it would chip in an additional $30,000.

Gatlin and Powell are scheduled to face each other June 11 at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Gateshead, England.

When Powell set the record last year, he bettered the mark of 9.79 set by Maurice Greene in Athens in June 1999.

Gatlin's previous best was the 9.85 he ran in winning the Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004.