BERLIN - Tyson Gay smashed the American record in the 100 meters by six hundredths of a second, and still he looked as if he was standing still compared to Usain Bolt.

The most anticipated race of the world championships lived up to its billing as "Das Duell," but Gay's time of 9.71 seconds in Sunday's final was blown away by Bolt's 9.58 - .11 seconds better than the world record he set exactly one year ago at the Beijing Olympics.

"I'm happy with the silver medal,'' said the 27-year-old Gay, who struggled with pain in his groin during the semifinal heat earlier in the day. "I ran my best."

"I looked pretty sluggish during the rounds, finally got it together in the finals. It just wasn't good enough."

It was certainly good enough to improve on the previous American record, which Gay had set at 9.77 last year. The 9.71 at the Olympic Stadium was the third fastest time in history, but nowhere near what he needed to win gold.

"For everything I've been through, for me to run 9.71 is a good job," Gay said.

It couldn't have been easy.

Gay's nagging groin injury forced him to temper his training on the starting blocks. That probably cost him Sunday, because Bolt seems to get faster as the race progresses.

And this time, Bolt ran the fastest ever - for the third time in his short career as a sprinter.

"I got a pretty good start,'' said the 22-year-old Bolt, who again had time to look around before crossing the finish line. "I was there at 20 meters and that was it.''

Despite the tough loss, however, Gay is already looking on the bright side.

"I've been telling you someone could run 9.5,'' Gay said. "I'm happy he did it, it showed a human can take it to another level. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one to do it, but I still have confidence I can do it one day."

Gay won both the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay at the last world championships in 2007, but Bolt equalled that feat by claiming the same three titles at last year's Beijing Olympics - all in world record time.

Darvis Patton, Gay's U.S. teammate, finished eighth in 10.34 seconds. He was stunned that Gay's time wasn't good enough to defend his world title from Osaka, Japan.

"I can't imagine going 9.71 and not winning,'' Patton said. "It's just unfortunate. Tyson's a phenomenal athlete."

Gay may get another shot at Bolt in the 200, which starts Tuesday and ends Thursday, if his groin injury isn't too bad.

"My groin is barely hanging on,'' Gay said. "I'm going to talk to our doctors and everything because it's kind of with some pain right now. Just see how it goes tonight because like I say, it's barely hanging on.''

Still, it's the next 100 that seems to matter more right now.

"I know I'm able to run faster,'' Gay said. "I've got to run 9.5.''