Who doesn’t love a comeback story. You’re just not human if an athlete to the same species in which we belong perseveres and overcomes odds, and a tear doesn’t well-up in the corner of your eye.
During this year’s 2012 Summer Olympics in London, it’ll be hard to steer your focus in any other direction than the men’s 100-meter dash. Jamaican Usain Bolt, the world-record-holder in the 100-meters (9.58) and 200-meters (19.19), is reason enough to watch, though he was recently crushed by fellow countryman Yohan Blake. And though it seems other rivals such as American record-holder Tyson Gay and Jamaican Asafa Powell have failed to find the consistency to challenge Bolt, one American has my attention of having a genuine chance at causing a seismic upset in London.
Justin Gatlin, a 30-year-old that won an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash during the 2004 games in Athens, is back in top form after serving a four-year ban for testing positive for a banned substance. Just last month, Gatlin recorded the fastest time of his career, breaking the tape in 9.80 seconds to place first in the U.S. Olympic trials. In fact, his time of 9.80 is the fastest time ever recorded for a man over the age of 30. In 2006, Gatlin had run what was then a world record 9.77, but it has been erased from the books due to having tested positive for using testosterone.
Following a relay race in April of 2006, Gatlin failed a drug test that was positive for a testosterone booster. At the time, Gatlin was coached by Trevor Graham. Among athletes Graham has coached, eight have tested positive or received bans for performance enhancing drugs. After Gatlin’s failed test, Graham stated in an interview that Gatlin had been sabotaged. Specifically, he blamed a massage therapist for rubbing a cream with testosterone onto Gatlin without his knowledge. Gatlin told the public that: “I cannot account for these results, because I have never knowingly used any banned substance or authorized anyone to administer such a substance to me.”
In 2007 and 2008, Gatlin tried to make a career in the NFL, working out with the Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans. And at the age of 26, he ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL Pro Day in 4.42, had a 40-inch vertical leap, an 11-foot broad jump and bench pressed 225 pounds 12 times.
Who doesn’t love a comeback story. You’re just not human if an athlete to the same species in which we belong perseveres and overcomes odds, and a tear doesn’t well-up in the corner of your eye.
During this year’s 2012 Summer Olympics in London, it’ll be hard to steer your focus in any other direction than the men’s 100-meter dash. Jamaican Usain Bolt, the world-record-holder in the 100-meters (9.58) and 200-meters (19.19), is reason enough to watch, though he was recently crushed by fellow countryman Yohan Blake. And though it seems other rivals such as American record-holder Tyson Gay and Jamaican Asafa Powell have failed to find the consistency to challenge Bolt, one American has my attention of having a genuine chance at causing a seismic upset in London.
Justin Gatlin, a 30-year-old that won an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash during the 2004 games in Athens, is back in top form after serving a four-year ban for testing positive for a banned substance. Just last month, Gatlin recorded the fastest time of his career, breaking the tape in 9.80 seconds to place first in the U.S. Olympic trials. In fact, his time of 9.80 is the fastest time ever recorded for a man over the age of 30. In 2006, Gatlin had run what was then a world record 9.77, but it has been erased from the books due to having tested positive for using testosterone.
Following a relay race in April of 2006, Gatlin failed a drug test that was positive for a testosterone booster. At the time, Gatlin was coached by Trevor Graham. Among athletes Graham has coached, eight have tested positive or received bans for performance enhancing drugs. After Gatlin’s failed test, Graham stated in an interview that Gatlin had been sabotaged. Specifically, he blamed a massage therapist for rubbing a cream with testosterone onto Gatlin without his knowledge. Gatlin told the public that: “I cannot account for these results, because I have never knowingly used any banned substance or authorized anyone to administer such a substance to me.”
In 2007 and 2008, Gatlin tried to make a career in the NFL, working out with the Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans. And at the age of 26, he ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL Pro Day in 4.42, had a 40-inch vertical leap, an 11-foot broad jump and bench pressed 225 pounds 12 times.
But in 2010, it was time for Gatlin to get back to his forte — sprinting. With his ban served, Gatlin ran 10.24, 10.17 and 10.09 in his first season of racing in four years. A year later, in 2011, Gatlin ran a season-best 9.95. And on an interesting note, also in 2011, Gatlin ran a wind-aided time of 9.45 seconds on a Japanese TV show. The wind came from a large wind machine blowing at speeds over 25 meters per second. Gatlin received $25,000 for appearing on the program.
So far this season, Gatlin has run three sub-10 runs already. His lifetime-best of 9.80 is currently the fastest among any American, with Gay sitting second at 9.86 and Ryan Bailey, who will join Gatlin and Gay as the American threesome in the 100-meter dash at the Olympics, has run 9.93. Gatlin’s time ranks third in the world, only behind Blake (9.75) and Bolt (9.76).
With a comeback story for the ages on the line, Gatlin could make history with a gold medal. Carl Lewis (1984, 1988) is the only sprinter in Olympic history to win two gold medals in the 100-meter dash, and with that, Gatlin could become the first to achieve the same feat, only doing so in the longest span since his gold medal was attained eight years ago. I’ll be rooting for him.
