Bolt and I pushed each other to become better: Justin Gatlin

Gatlin exploded with Olympic and World Championship gold medals in 2004 and 2005 respectively

Justin Gatlin found the right sport. The Olympic and World Championship gold medal-winning sprinter 'never got nervous' before his race. He felt like he was ready and he belonged. He was less comfortable in a team environment, be that a relay team or his brief trial stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team.

The American has experienced it all in a career that spanned nearly two decades. He exploded with Olympic and World Championship gold medals in 2004 and 2005 respectively, missed four years of his athletic peak due to a doping suspension following his second tryst with the authorities, returned to ignite a rivalry with Usain Bolt that would define a generation, run his best time of 9.74s in 2015, win another gold at the 2017 World Championship and nearly made it to the 2020 Olympic team before calling it quits.

Here as the ambassador for the TCS World 10K Bengaluru, Gatlin spoke about the state of the sport, his career and more.

Excerpts:

Justin, you said towards the end of your career, you were stressed about what could happen after your career. How was that phase going on for you?

I'm still navigating through it. Because for the last 20 years, when I wake up, I know exactly what my plan is and what I'm trying to achieve. Now it's like almost a rebirth for me, finding something new, be it in track and field or sports in general or something outside of sports that can be able to challenge me on a new level. So I'm excited. But also, it's a nervous feeling.

Your rivalry with Usain Bolt, all the success that you both had. Is it fair to give some credit to the other for the success?

I mean, when you have a rivalry like that, it always comes with some kind of ego. So if you look back, we never attributed our success to each other while we were active. But as we left the sport, it became more clear and the realisation that each has helped the other be better. He's gone on record saying that I pushed him, especially at a point where he felt like the sport was not as exciting for him anymore. For me, he made me want to be better. His success in his 9.5s to 19.9s and being so consistent on the world stage. It made me want to grow as an athlete and a person.

It was needed for the sport, it was needed for the audience. I want to be able to challenge you at your best so anytime I ran against Usain I thought about 9.5 Usain, I didn't think about 10.2 Usain or 9.9 Usain. I thought about the guy that the world knows.

Winning in 2017. Would you say that was the high point of your career?

Definitely one of the high points. Because obviously, our battles throughout the years are for the ages. I've locked up with Usain for many years, starting from 2005 when he was young and going all the way through 2015, 2017. So not just beating Usain, but finally accomplishing it on a world stage was a key point of my career.

Do you think that without the suspensions, your record would have been even greater?

You know, those are the what-ifs. But I also look back, if I didn't ever sit out, I might not even be running in 2017 or 2019, or even 2015. After 2008, I might have been done. So for me, it showed my longevity. It showed my dedication to the sport, it showed how hard I worked to achieve these things. Because I ran into a part of history where athletes don't run, they don't run at 39, 38-years-old. Do I think my time would have been faster? Possibly, you know, if I stayed in the sport, but at the same time, I was able to sit back, watch how the sport was developing, watching how Usain has turned 9.8, 9.7 into something normal. And I was able to say, okay, that's what I need to do, so it helped me evolve as an athlete.

What did you miss the most during those periods when you were forced to stay away from the sport, especially the second time?

A sense of meaning. My career was every day. So I had meaning in my life every day. So being away from the sport, I had to question myself. And at a young age, you are still trying to discover who you are. So it was hard for me emotionally, to be able to navigate through those four years. But at the same time, physically, I yearned to be out there on the track, to go out there and compete, because that's what I knew. So when I got past all those depressing moments, it gave me fire that said I have to be the person who controls my destiny. And no matter how hard it is, for me to come back into a sport, which I was denied, over and over again. I was supposed to not run any more Diamond Leagues. At the end, I won three diamond league trophies in a row. I bet on myself. It was a hard lesson to learn that betting on yourself is the best way to go.

Athletics is looking for that superstar now. So not having a standout name, do you think that it is a problem?

No, I don't I don't think it's a problem at all. This is an opportunity for all of us to sit back. And cherish the moment of watching these athletes jockeying for position for being the next great athlete. Now you have people running more consistently 9.7s, 9.8s. It was almost anybody's race. And for me, that's exciting. Of course, we want to see two titans clash at the top. But to have eight athletes at the start line and not knowing who's going to win. It puts me on the edge of my seat. I want to see a star being born and that's what you're going to see

I think we're so used to having marquee athletes. But I think now we had the opportunity to watch athletes blossom. It allows them, to solidify their greatness in a matter of four years, where it took someone like myself a decade, two decades to be able to show greatness is these people will be able to show it within a matter of five years.

People have been talking about records and if maybe 9.5s is possible in 100m?

Yeah, because I think what people don't realise is that, when you look at sports, we just look at the physical part of it, but there also comes a mental part. You have to first believe that you can do it, then you set out physically to go out there and achieve it. If you really put your mind to it, and break down the journey that it will take to run 9.5s, you really will see that it's achievable. Everything has to come together, you know, nutrition, rest, recovery, competition, strength, patience, all those things come together to make that happen. So do I think is achievable? Records, they're meant to be broken. So at some point in time, it will be.

With the new shoe technology, do you see standards going forward?

I was not a fan of the bubble, the bubble spikes. As a sprinter, you want a harder surface, because that's gonna give you that energy back as you run. So I couldn't get past my mind that a bubble that is going to squish and be able to condense and then have to get off of it. But a lot of them are running great times with bubble shoes. But to be able to have a more exciting sport, you have to push the envelope of technology. We have faster tracks, gear is lighter and more streamlined. Now you have shoes, that are going to be more effective. So I think that's what our sport needs to be able to go out there and make leaps and bounds into the future, and make it more exciting for people to see and more records being broken, you have to be able to let technology come in.

Your two World Championship gold medal was 12 years apart, how different were they?

I won the indoor World Championship in 2003, went on to win the gold medal in 2004 (Olympics), went on to win the double gold medal in 2005 (Worlds). So it was like a wave of success. I was at the top of my game. So I didn't think of the magnitude of being a world champion, I just wanted to conquer and accomplish everything that was on my path. Fast forward to 2017, It was a different feeling. I had to find myself, that when I went into that race, it wasn't about appeasing sponsors, or trying to run for the crowd. I just felt like, I'm gonna go out there and have fun with it. I'm gonna compete at a level where it's fun for me, exciting for me and take away all that pressure. So when I came across that finish line, it felt like home, it felt like it was a familiar feeling, I was like, this is comfortable. For me, this is where I need to be.

Have you had time to think about what your legacy is?

I haven't. Listening to my peers and the younger athletes who are coming behind me, who have actually made, you know, a name for themselves, you know, they're constantly telling me that I'm a legend in the sport, you know, and I've inspired them to be better athletes and better people, you know. But for myself, it's almost like a double-edged sword. It's like, I know that I have a great legacy. But at the same time, it's normal for me. If I'm this great, it's just a normal thing for me.

Can you take us through a race from starting block to the finish line?

You have to be able to dissect the 100 meters. So you have to work on your block, start your exit from the blocks, you have to be able to connect your block start your drive phase, your transition, which is the middle of the race, and then you're topping which is the end of the race. And what happens is, some people separate them and you have a moment where you're waiting. I learned that if I'm just connecting my drive to my transition and making it smooth, I don't have to fight towards the end of the race.

You feel very strongly about securing the finances of track and field athletes in the sense of making sure that they're financially stable.

Do I think that we're compensated in the right way? No, because we are in a sport that we're constantly running around the world. We have World Championships every two years and Olympics every four years. The way we are compensated now is the world looks at us as every four years, the world doesn't even know that we have a circuit that travels around the world and we compete year-in year-out. So I think that if the world understood what it is to be an Olympic athlete, what it is to travel around the world and compete. You know, I think that people will look at it differently. And I think that the compensation will grow.

Can you talk about the 9:74s run in 2015 in Doha?

I'll take you back a little further. In 2014 You know, I realized that I had to step my game up if I want to be able to compete consistently at a world stage. So going into 2015 I said I'm going to achieve a nine six or better. So I had to make 9.7 normal. Normal race for me in 2015 was 9.7, I had five-six 9.7s in one season. And that was what I was trying to achieve. And unfortunately, I didn't make it in that season. But I was so excited going into 2016, that I was going to be able to keep that same energy going into the next season, which was an Olympic year. Unfortunately, I had a hairline fracture in my ankle and was able to achieve that.

How tough was it to say goodbye to the track?

Very difficult. I remember after the 100-metre race at the Olympic trials, even though I know that I pulled my hamstring in the semifinals, maybe like two o'clock in the morning after everything was done settled. I lay in bed and I couldn't sleep, I just cried. Just because I knew that it was going to be my last time at an Olympic trial as an athlete. So it was a very bittersweet feeling. I just let them all out at two o'clock in the morning, it was sadness, happiness and all flowing out at once.