Justin Gatlin does not think he beat Usain Bolt. He knows he did. In 2013, the American sprinter out leaned Bolt by one-hundredth of a second at the finish to record a surprise 100m win in Rome.
At the Diamond League season opener on Friday, the 33-year-old took no more than 9.74 secs to run the fastest 100m of his life and record his 19th straight win.
In an era where the definition of “fast” is Bolt’s superhuman 9.58 seconds, how does he see himself keeping pace with the stratospheric standards? “The bar has been set very high on the term “very fast”. 9.8, 9.7 and hopefully 9.6 as well will come this year.
So I want to go out there and dominate on a higher level,” says Gatlin, before adding, “Not just win but dominating with fast times. It was exciting for me to see someone accomplish those times. Before that I couldn’t fathom it. It opened up a new thought process for me.”
He was quick to drop in a caveat though. “I don’t think the world record is out of reach. I believe that as humans we set a wall and say that it can’t be done until someone does it. And that opens the floodgates for the next per son and the next person after that,” the Olympic gold medallist goes on to explain.
The American tested positive for an amphetamine in 2001, and in 2006 was caught with excess testosterone in his system. For his second offence he received an eight-year ban, reduced to four on appeal, and returned to racing in 2010.