Usain Bolt rued the fact he was unable to provide the perfect send-off for his supporters after he was beaten in his final individual race, the men's 100 metre final at the IAAF World Championships.

Athletics' most popular figure was aiming to claim a record-breaking fourth 100m title in London on Saturday, but had to settle for a bronze medal as Justin Gatlin triumphed ahead of fellow American Christian Coleman.

Bolt, who will still have the chance to claim his 12th World Championships gold in next weekend's 4x100m relay, received typically strong support from a packed London Stadium, but was unable to catch Gatlin and Coleman after starting slowly once more.

"My start - it's killing me," Bolt told the BBC. "Normally I would get better through the rounds but it didn't come together and that's what killed me.

"I felt like it was there. The fact I didn't get it, that's the reason I lost, but it's just one of those things."

Commenting on the backing he was given, Bolt, added: "Yeah, it was wonderful. I didn't expect any less. I knew they were going to come out and support.

"I'm just sad that I couldn't come out and really deliver as I wanted to.

"I was a little bit stressed, but I [said I was going to] come out here and take it like every other championship. That's what I did - I came out and I did my best."

In contrast to the cheers that Bolt received before and after the race, there were boos for Gatlin - who has served two doping bans during his career.

At 35, Gatlin is the oldest 100m champion in history, his second gold coming 12 years after he triumphed in Helsinki.