Jamaican Usain Bolt is the king of the 100m dash, but he suffered his first defeat in the event in three years at the hands of American Justin Gatlin in Rome, Italy Thursday, reports RTT news.

Bolt, responding after the loss, says he’s not worried about the upset.

"The one-offs are never for me. It's all about the World Championships. I've got two months to get it right. You learn more from losing. You can't win every race in your career, I've learnt that," the two-time Olympic Gold athlete said.

The event was held by the Rome Golden Gala Diamond League, where Gatlin won with a time of 9.94 seconds, beating Bolt’s 9.95, according to the Daily Mail.

Bolt’s last loss in the 100 meters came back in 2010 when he was suffering from a back injury, according to RTT.

Bolt added during interviews after the race, "For me Rio will be biggest Games of my life. That's where I'm going to make history if possible (by becoming) the three times Olympic (100m and 200m) champion, which has never been done. I want to go out there for my legend status."

After his losing race, Bolt briefly covered his face with his hands and then saluted the crowd. Moments later he went over and shook Gatlin’s hand and congratulated him.

Speaking to the press, Bolt said, "I came into this race trying to figure out where I was.”

“Now I just need to go back and watch the tape and see what went wrong and what I need to work on and compete better next time. ... The fact that I lost this race is a good thing," he continued. 

Despite his good start, the Jamaican runner struggled in the first 50 meters. He began to gain ground on Gatlin near the finish but needed a bit more track to overtake him, reports CBS.

"That was ridiculous — a perfect start and then I just cropped off," said Bolt.

"I think it was this perfect start that threw my game off. I have to do more strength work, I guess. I think it needs just some time to get it all back together. At the end it was just not me."

He came in second after a crowd of 52,305 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Bolt was beaten by Tyson Gay in 2010.