Justin Gatlin, the man everyone loves to hate has opened his 2015 campaign surprisingly well, with a 100m personal best in Doha of 9.74 (+0.9) and, after a low-key 20.10s early appearance in Tampa this April, an impressive 19.68s (+0.9) to equal his 200m PB at the Prefontaine Classic.
These World-Lead times suggest the unbeatable, but, whilst inspiringly good, Bolt’s 10.12 was in to a -1.3mps headwind and his 200m on a cold Ostrava evening was just outside of twenty seconds. This inidicates Bolt has a huge margin for improvement.
The media and track fans alike have built up the ‘Gatlin vs Bolt’ rivalry as the villain against our superhero, which seems fair, and such a rivalry is a great for the sport. However, to look at proceedings objectively, Gatlin’s so-called ‘renaissance’ is incredible.
Rather than reciting his drug violations, have a look at Gatlin’s annual progression, it makes for a remarkable story. Gatlin ran 10.08 as a teenager (notably quicker than Usain, although not his preferred distance) and, over the 200m, ran 19.86 at the age of twenty. After an Olympic 100m title, Gatlin won a 100m/200m World Championship double in 2005 before his doping ban, to then take four years out of the sport and return with a string of runs above 10seconds.
To most this would seem a washed-up drug cheat’s failed attempt at a comeback to glory. But Gatlin’s tenacity, persistence and resolute nature are values we all can learn from; they are values that make champions. After a somewhat average comeback attempt in 2010 and a semi-successful 2011, to subsequently run 9.8 or quicker for four consecutive seasons, after being down and out, and to run a personal best aged 33 is a feat to be applauded.
To return to the top, once one has experienced the bottom is a difficult task, as is to overthrow someone who has dominated the sprinting world for the last seven years. Perhaps we should take another angle on Gatlin’s resurgence, and rather than eternally punish an athlete for his past, celebrate one of the most successful comebacks in sporting history.
There has been a lot of questionable data lately on the long term-benefits of steroids and French newspaper L’Equipe asked Gatlin about one of the studies, to which he replied,
‘It’s ridiculous. My situation was 2006. That was a decade ago. If anybody says that can happen a whole decade later, they need to go and see what’s happening in the medical world… I have been in the sport, I have been injured since then, I have been out of the sport, now I am back in the sport and I am running very well.’
This answer, whilst universally unpopular, tells the new story vividly; a man who has experienced the top, lost it all due to his own wrongdoings, and then got it all back, but for one thing – forgiveness. A little humility and the accountability for his past actions may be the missing link between villain and revived hero.
Gatlin stood on the start line at Hayward Field for the Prefontaine Classic on May 30th to cheers, arguably echoes of redemption. After the race he was swarmed for autographs and ‘selfies’. Some, it would seem, are ready to forgive.
Track and field needs characters like Gatlin. It needs great rivalries. It needs comeback stories and redemption. Whether Bolt or Gatlin becomes 100m World Champion this year, the rivalry that has been built up is one of the most exciting in sprint history and is sure to attract a huge global audience.
Watch Gatlin’s 19.68 at the Prefontaine Classic below.
