American Gatlin ruined Usain Bolt's farewell party to gatecrash the 100 metres final and claim the world title on Saturday night.
He ran 9.92 seconds as Bolt, in his last solo race before retirement, could only finish third in 9.95 seconds behind USA rookie Christian Coleman.
Former Olympic champion Gatlin had been continuously booed during the heats, semi-final and final having previously served bans for drug violations.
But Prescod, who finished seventh in the final and was the only home athlete to qualify, insisted Gatlin was inadvertently aided by the London crowd.
Click here for our take on Usain Bolt's defeat and the positive message it still sends
He said: "People didn't realise the booing helped him. He was loving playing the villain.
"Coleman has been running well, Gatlin just beat him in trials so was used to racing him. He crept in and took it.
"With the 100m you set off from the gun and that's what he did and Bolt couldn't reel him back.
"They (the IAAF) have allowed him to come back into the sport and he turned up on the big show.
"At the end of the day I've got to go and raise my game and get faster and come back again next year even better.
"I was focused on my lane but on the line everyone has 45 steps to win the race and Gatlin put his 45 steps in the right place. It's how athletics works."
Prescod ran 10.17 seconds in his first world final just two years after watching the Beijing World Championships on TV while he worked behind a bar in a golf club in Chigwell.
He is now looking to improve with next year's World Indoors and European Championships on the agenda.
The 21-year-old said: "I was doing bar work for eight hours and then training the next day, it was a pretty tough period but it's what I had to do.
"I'd never met Bolt before so it was good, the guy's a legend. In the call room he said I'd done a good job to get there, which was nice to here.
"It was good and positive. He's left the sport in a good place but, as you can see, everyone is in the same mix now. You can't really call who's going to win races which I like.
"Previously it was like 'Bolt's going to win, Bolt's going to win'. If Bolt's not there, who's going to step up? Me and CJ (Ujah) are there, two American boys and the next few years are going to be exciting."
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