PARIS, May 17: Justin Gatlin's 100 metres world record of 9.76 seconds has been corrected to 9.77, equalling the previous mark, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said on Wednesday.

The IAAF was informed of an error in the reading of the result by the company responsible for timing at Friday's meeting in Doha.

Based on his time recorded after winning the race, Gatlin ran 9.766 seconds, which was announced as a world record 9.76, an IAAF statement read.

According to IAAF rules, this should have been rounded up to 9.77. Gatlin's time, pending ratification, equals the record set by Jamaica's Asafa Powell in Athens on June 14 last year.

The IAAF said the error had been spotted fairly early in the record ratification process which gives member federations one month to submit a form.

”Records are not ratified for various reasons. The problem here was it was a mistake, but better we admit that,” IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said.—Agencies