Under IAAF rules, a time is always rounded up to the next one-hundredth of a second. The federation said it acted after being informed of the error by Tissot Timing, the Swiss company in charge of the recording the times at the Doha event.

“As a sport, it’s embarrassing,” said Craig Masback, executive director of USA Track & Field, “and I feel badly for Justin.”

It’s believed to be the first time a world record has been taken away days later because of a timing adjustment. Gatlin didn’t grant interviews Wednesday, but a statement he released through USA Track & Field showed he was perturbed that it took so long to get it right.

“It is very disappointing to me that it has taken five days to determine the official time of a race with this significance,” he said. “I remain confident that I am the world’s fastest man and I look forward to proving it once again. My parents raised me to be a good sport, but I don’t want to share the world record.”

The error, and all the attention it received, only intensifies the already heated rivalry between Gatlin and Powell, and provides some welcome attention to track and field halfway between the Athens and Beijing Olympics.

“He said he was ready to run faster this year,” Masback said in a telephone interview, “and frankly I think it does create a lot of interest because you have these two great runners, both of whom are confident of running faster.”

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