Justin Gatlin hails Bolt the 'showman' despite relay flop

London: A sentimental Justin Gatlin hailed Usain Bolt as an "amazing showman" whose career would certainly not be defined by him pulling up with cramp in the world 4x100m relay, the Jamaican's final competitive race. There was high drama in last night's relay as anchor man Bolt received the baton in third place behind eventual gold medallists Britain and runners-up America. Less than 50 metres down the track, Bolt suddenly pulled up, clutching his left leg, tumbling to the track with what was later diagnosed as a hamstring cramp. "This is farewell time, I am sentimental about it already now," said Gatlin, who stormed to 100m gold in London, US teammate Christian Coleman taking silver to relegate Bolt to a disappointing bronze in his individual send-off. "In the warm-up area we give ourselves respect and greet each other," Gatlin said of Bolt, who bows out of competition with a startling haul of eight Olympic gold medals and 14 world medals, nine of which are gold. Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, put the blame for Bolt's cramp partly at the amount of time the athletes spent on the track before the starter's gun went off. "There was a cool breeze out there. But the conditions were the same for everybody," said the 35-year-old, who won the 100m at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.