Prior to losing in the 100-meter final at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing on Sunday to Jamaican sprint sensation Usain Bolt, 29, Gatlin had been the dominant force in the sport all of this year to the chagrin of die-hard track fans.
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“I’m always confident, man”, the six-times Olympic champion and world record-holder said, when asked whether he expected to beat Gatlin again in Thursday’s final in Beijing. But I’m a better technical runner over the 200 meters so we’ll see what happens.
Gatlin and agent Renaldo Nehemiah feel the BBC expressed considerable bias in favor of Usain Bolt, as the Jamaican edged Gatlin in the 100 meters Sunday at the World Championships in Beijing. Bolt later said that setting a record was not a priority for him and his goal was to win gold medal for Jamaica.
She said: “I wanted to come back with a win and I did”.
“I am exhausted and a little sore but I’m going to take another ice bath and I’ll be OK”.
And so, the stakes were set: The world-record holder and track’s happy warrior against a twice-convicted doper, who also won the 100 at the 2004 Olympics and the world championships in 2005.
Gatlin is the quickest man over 200metres this season with a time of 19.57sec while Bolt has yet to run under 20 seconds.
The kind of rabid reactions, however, at the prospect of his triumph, and the glee at his loss only highlight the moral knot sports gets itself into at these moments.
“I should be fine – ice up, chill out and get some rest”, said Bolt, who won the 100m after a heart-stopping stumble in his semi-final. Their run-ups were roared and they were cheered as they sailed through the air and landed in a bump of sand.
Aside from Bolt, middle-distance superstars Genzebe Dibaba and David Rudisha will race the finals of the women’s 1500 and men’s 800m respectively. He did it and reaffirmed his position among the greatest athletes of all time.
Although Gatlin has the fastest two times in the 200 this season, no one is even so much as questioning Bolt.
“The last five metres were crucial here, I leaned too far forward coming to the finish line and caught myself off-balance”.
Gatlin had sailed through his semi-final easily while Bolt, who has carried athletics on his shoulders for seven years but has struggled for form this season, looked uncharacteristically nervous as he crept through.
Nadine Muller of Germany, the 2011 world championship silver medallist, finished third at 65.53.
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And, whoever wins, let’s hope Bolt v Gatlin mark two over 200m is just as exciting. Someone who, unlike me in my television debut, revels and performs at his best under pressure.
