Justin Gatlin
Justin Alexander Gatlin is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 World Champion in the 200 meters, and the 2019 World Champion in the 4 × 100 meters relay. In addition, Gatlin is the 2003 and 2012 World Indoor Champion in the 60 meters. He is a 5-time Olympic medalist and a 12-time World Championship medalist. At the World Athletics Relays, Gatlin won two gold medals in the 4 × 100 meters relay in 2015 and 2017. Gatlin is also a record 3-time Diamond League Champion in the 100 meters. He won the Diamond League trophy in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Justin Gatlin's personal best of 9.74 seconds ranks fifth on the all-time list of male 100-meter athletes. He is a two-time 100 meters World Champion and a two-time 60 meters World Indoor Champion. Gatlin won both the 100 meters and 200 meters at the 2005 World Championships. He is also a World Champion in the 4 × 100 meters relay, which the United States of America team won at the 2019 World Championships.
In 2001, he incurred a two-year ban from athletics for testing positive for amphetamines, later reduced to one year because of an appeal. In 2006, he incurred a further four-year ban for testing positive for testosterone, with this sanction erasing his then-world-record time of 9.77 seconds in the 100 meters.
Gatlin returned to competition in August 2010. In June 2012 at the US Olympic trials, Gatlin ran a time of 9.80 seconds, which was the fastest-ever time recorded for a man over the age of 30. In May 2015 at the IAAF Doha Diamond League, at the age of 33, Gatlin broke his own 100 m record for a man over the age of 30 by running 9.74 seconds, also Gatlin's personal best over the distance.
Gatlin won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 2004 Olympics. At the London 2012 Olympics, he ran a time of 9.79 seconds, earning a bronze medal. He won his third Olympic medal in the 100 meters in the 2016 Olympic 100-meter final, finishing with the silver. At 34, he became the oldest man to win an Olympic medal in a non-relay sprint event. At the age of 35, Gatlin won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 2017 World Championships, 12 years after his first triumph in the event. At the 2019 World Championships, Gatlin won the silver medal in the 100 m in a time of 9.89, making him the most decorated 100 m sprinter in World Championship history, with a record of five individual 100 m medals. Gatlin's tally of eight global championship 100 m medals makes him the most decorated 100 m sprinter of all time, a feat he accomplished at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
He announced his retirement from the sport in 2022 on his 40th birthday.
Early career
High school and collegiate career
Gatlin attended Woodham High School in Pensacola, Florida, where he competed as a hurdler. He was eventually noticed by University of Tennessee coaches Vince Anderson and Bill Webb, who awarded him a scholarship and trained him to become a sprinter rather than a hurdler. In 2001, in his freshman year at Tennessee, Gatlin won NCAA outdoor titles in both the 100 meters and 200 meters.Amphetamines ban
Not long after, Gatlin was banned from international competition for two years by the IAAF after testing positive for amphetamines. Gatlin appealed on the grounds that the positive test had been due to medication that he had been taking since his childhood, when he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. The appeal resulted in an early reinstatement by the IAAF. Gatlin was banned from international competition, but was still allowed to compete nationally as an NCAA athlete, and he went on to win 4 more NCAA titles; however, these do not count for records purposes on his international profile.In an unexpected move, Gatlin decided to turn professional after his sophomore season, foregoing his remaining two years of collegiate eligibility. He moved to Florida to begin training with new coach Trevor Graham.
Professional career
2003: World Indoor Champion
In his first indoor season as a professional athlete, Gatlin won the national 60 meters title in Boston in 6.45 seconds, a personal best. 2 weeks later, Gatlin stormed to his first world title, clocking 6.46 at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.Not long after, Gatlin suffered a hamstring injury and was forced to miss the 2003 National Championships in Palo Alto, meaning he would miss the World Championships in Paris as well. On August 15, despite a very inconsistent few months, Gatlin finally broke ten seconds in the 100 meters for the first time, with 9.97 at the Weltklasse Zürich. In order to fully recover and prepare for next year's Olympic Games in Athens, Gatlin and his coach decided to skip the 2004 indoor season.
2004: Olympic Champion
Gatlin's plan worked and he qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, after finishing 2nd in both the 100 meters and 200 meters at the Olympic Trials in Sacramento. The following month, Gatlin made history and won the Olympic 100 meter title in 9.85 seconds, a new personal best, only one hundredth slower than the Olympic record. The finish was incredibly tight, with Francis Obikwelu of Portugal one hundredth behind for the silver medal, his teammate and defending champion Maurice Greene another hundredth back for the bronze medal, and his other teammate Shawn Crawford another two hundredths back for 4th place. In the 200 meters, Gatlin won the bronze medal, completing an American sweep of the podium behind Crawford and Bernard Williams Finally, he won the silver medal as a member of the 4 × 100 meters relay squad.In the fall of 2004, Gatlin graduated from Tennessee.
2005: World Champion
With an Olympic title under his belt, Gatlin was favored for the 100 meter title at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, along with Asafa Powell of Jamaica, who broke the 100 m world record. Gatlin won the 100/200 double at the 2005 National Championships in Carson; his first national outdoor titles. Then, Powell pulled out of the world championships due to injury, effectively removing any opposition to Gatlin. He went on to win the 100 in 9.88, a season's best; his winning margin of 0.17 seconds was the widest in world championship 100 m history. With Crawford not entered, Gatlin won the 200 as well, becoming the second man in history to win both events at a single world championships. His fellow Americans also took the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places, the first time any nation had swept the top 4 positions at a world championship.2006: World Record
On May 12, at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix, Gatlin initially broke the 100-meter world record with 9.76 seconds, one hundredth faster than Powell's record of 9.77 set the previous year. 4 days later however, the IAAF revealed on that his time had been 9.766 seconds, which was subsequently rounded up to 9.77, in line with regulations. Shortly thereafter, with the track and field community itching for a Gatlin-Powell showdown, the two both appeared at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon. No agreement could be reached with the meet organizers, however, so the two competed in separate heats. Gatlin won the event with a time of 9.88 seconds over Powell's 9.93 seconds.2006 doping ban
On July 29, a month after winning the US title, Gatlin told the media that he had been informed by the USADA that he had given a positive doping test in April the same year. He claimed his innocence in the matter:It is believed that the substance that Gatlin tested positive for was "testosterone or its precursor." The failed test was revealed after a relay race on April 22, 2006, in Lawrence, Kansas. The "B" sample was confirmed as positive in July.
Gatlin's coach, Trevor Graham, had eight athletes who had tested positive or received bans for performance-enhancing drugs. After Gatlin's failed test, Graham stated in an interview that Gatlin had been sabotaged. He blamed massage therapist Christopher Whetstine for rubbing a cream containing testosterone onto Gatlin's buttocks without his knowledge. The therapist denied the claim, saying: "Trevor Graham is not speaking on behalf of Justin Gatlin and the story about me is not true."
On August 22, Gatlin accepted an eight-year ban from track and field, avoiding a lifetime ban in exchange for his cooperation with the doping authorities, and because of the "exceptional circumstances" surrounding his first positive drug test. Gatlin appealed against the ban; an arbitration panel reduced it to four years at a hearing in December 2007. The USADA's chief executive officer explained "Given his cooperation and the circumstances relating to Mr Gatlin's first offence, the four-year penalty issued by the arbitration panel is a fair and just outcome". His 9.77 was subsequently annulled.
On December 19, 2006, ESPN reported that Gatlin would work with Woodham High School's track team as a voluntary coach, helping his old high school with "some workouts, sprint work, block work, where he sees something and can give encouragement."
Possible NFL career
It was reported that Gatlin planned to serve his four-year ban from the track on a football field. On November 29, 2006, ESPN reported that Gatlin had worked out with the Houston Texans, although he has little football experience and "has not played football since 10th grade".On May 4, 2007, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that Gatlin was one of 28 free agents taken to their 2007 rookie camp on tryout contracts, and was considered to be the most intriguing unsigned athlete in attendance. He tried out for the team as a wide receiver. He was unsuccessful, though he stated that he believed that he had all the necessary skills and that the only reason he did not make the team was because coaches viewed him as a "track guy."