Justin Gatlin wins the men's 100m Olympic gold medal (© Getty Images)
Twenty minutes before the start of the men’s 100 metre final on Sunday night, an unusual electricity filled the air of the Olympic Stadium.
With “Zorba’s Theme” blasting in the background and spectators dancing and singing in the stands, the festive atmosphere was nothing short of a world-wide celebration, a fitting setting for the preamble to what would become the finest-ever 100 metre race in Olympic history. The famous song’s infectious, slowly-building crescendo even flowed through the athletes.
Usually composed, stoic and focused, some swayed to the rhythm, others hummed along with the tune. In lane three, Justin Gatlin too, maybe unwittingly, strutted along with the beat, perhaps, in his mind, likening the theme’s climactic ouverture to the powerful finish he displayed 9.85 seconds after the starter’s gun sounded.
When it was over, the significance of emerging victorious from one of the most unforgettable races in history did not escape the 22-year-old.
One of the best races in history
“I’m just honoured," he said, "to be in one of the best races in history, probably the fastest Olympic race ever. I knew I had it ten metres before the line, I felt that I was way out there. I knew the race was obviously very close, but I felt so strong coming to the line.”
Screaming with joy as he crossed the line, the emotion of the moment didn’t escape him either.
“I was just shocked that my dream came true. I’ve been watching people make history, people like Maurice Greene, Marion Jones, people who’ve done it time and time again. I just want to be part of that, and I knew that in that point in time, I did it.”
Despite the slowest reaction time in the field, Gatlin was very much a part of the race from the outset. At 60 metres, training partner Shawn Crawford, the erstwhile 2004 World leader, looked ready to jettison to the front of the pack, but Gatlin remained composed, and found a gear of his own to match not only his compatriot’s challenge, but that of new European record holder Francis Obikwelu and defending champion Maurice Greene. He simply remained true to his game plan.
“[It was] just knowing that I had to get out and had to have a good drive phase, and knowing that I had to have a good transition, because, running with Maurice, he’s flawless when it comes to his races. So I hade to have everything together.”
So physically powerful and emotionally draining were the final few metres that Gatlin admits he barely remembers them.
Destined for Olympic glory
“Ten metres before the line, I couldn’t feel anything,” Gatlin said. “It was all a blur.”
From early in his youth in Brooklyn and later in Pensacola, Florida, where he would hurdle fire hydrants in the streets and climb and jump from furniture in his home, Gatlin seemed destined for Olympic Glory.
“I was always rambunctious when I was a little kid,” Gatlin recalled. “I would be on top of the television and jump off of it, and do all kinds of weird things like that. I was always athletic, and I just wanted to put my focus on track and field. What more can you do in track and field than be athletic and rambunctious?”
Perhaps unnerving for his parents, his rambunctiousness paid off. A national standout in high school, Gatlin’s all-around talents were displayed at the traditionally competitive Florida State high school championships, in 2000, where he scored a 100/110m hurdles/300m hurdles triple win, and adding a third place finish in the long jump.
Outstanding College career
From the outset of his brief collegiate career, Gatlin was widely regarded as the most exciting young speedster to emerge from the traditionally strong American sprint scene in years. In 2001, he ended his freshman year as the NCAA outdoor champion in the 100m and 200m. The following year, be became the first man to repeat as double sprint champion since 1956 Olympic 100 metre champion Bobby Morrow accomplished the feat in 1957, before his inevitable departure to the professional ranks from the University of Tennessee.
Beginning with a World Indoor title in the 60 metres, Gatlin briskly established himself as a major international force among sprinters in 2003. Injury at the US Championships precluded an appearance at the World Championships, but he nonetheless won six of his 11 races, including a high profile win in Stockholm over one of the strongest fields of the year, the first sub-10 of his career in Zurich (9.97), and season-capping win at the Moscow Challenge in which he collected one of the sport’s largest-ever paydays, a cool half million dollars.
This season he prepped for the notoriously difficult US Olympic Trials with solid performances in Europe, winning the 200 in Ostrava and finishing runner-up in the longer dash in Bergen. The preparation apparently worked. In Sacramento, Gatlin was second in both sprints, clocking 9.92 and 20.01 personal bests.
A minor toe injury sustained in the semi-final of the longer dash, coupled with the exhaustion of the grueling Trials process, hobbled Gatlin slightly in London (6th) and Zurich (3rd), but his patience reaped huge dividends in Athens, where pre-race attention was directed elsewhere. But Gatlin said that he never felt as an underdog at the Olympic Stadium.
Never an underdog
“I never feel like an underdog. I go out there and feel like I’m a champion all the time. I always feel that I’ve earned the respect to step on that line.”
An avid fan of all track & field events –“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said, “that’s what makes track & field so exciting” - Gatlin aims to take his newfound glory and the accompanying responsibilities and duties of an Olympic gold medallist and transcend athletics circles to bring his sport to the global sporting forefront.
“I want to show how, in track and field, how hard we work out there,” he said. “That Maurice goes out there, and I go out there and Shawn goes out there, and we work hard for six hours every day. We’re probably stronger than a lot of [American] football players out there. We do what we have to do to prove that we are the best. To prove that to all of you and delight all of you when we run those fast times. I want to show the world that track and field has more to offer than you expect.”
Track and Field has a lot more to offer
While Sydney Olympic champion and former World record holder Maurice Greene has declared himself the “Greatest of all time,” it’s a title that Gatlin said he’s not ready to claim for himself. But it’s clearly something he’s shooting for.
“That’s what I strive for, to be the greatest of all time. I’ve gone ahead and proved that I was the greatest this year, an Olympian, and I had the fastest time.” But Gatlin knows that such lofty descriptors don’t come without a constant fight.
“It’s always a dog fight, out there. You always have to fight in the men’s sprints. You always have to prove yourself in every race. It’s a matter of staying on top and being the best you could be.”
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
