Justin Gatlin

Justin Alexander Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic champion in the 100 meters, a 5-time Olympic medalist, and a 12-time World Championship medalist. His major victories include winning World Championship titles in the 100 meters in 2005 and 2017, the 200 meters in 2005, and the 4 × 100 meters relay in 2019. He also earned 60-meter World Indoor Championship titles in 2003 and 2012, and won three consecutive Diamond League 100-meter trophies from 2013 to 2015.

Gatlin attended Woodham High School in Pensacola, Florida, competing as a hurdler before receiving a scholarship from University of Tennessee coaches Vince Anderson and Bill Webb, who transitioned him into a sprinter. As a freshman in 2001, he won NCAA outdoor titles in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Shortly after, he received a two-year ban for testing positive for amphetamines, which was reduced to one year on appeal after demonstrating the result was due to medication prescribed for attention deficit disorder. After winning four additional national NCAA titles, Gatlin turned professional after his sophomore year to train under Trevor Graham.

In 2003, Gatlin won national and world indoor titles in the 60 meters. After recovering from a hamstring injury, he broke the ten-second barrier in the 100 meters for the first time in August 2003. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Gatlin won gold in the 100 meters with a personal best of 9.85 seconds, while also taking bronze in the 200 meters and silver in the 4 × 100 meters relay. Later that fall, he graduated from the University of Tennessee.

At the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Gatlin won gold in both the 100 meters and 200 meters, becoming only the second man to achieve this double at a single World Championships. In 2006, he matched the 100-meter world record of 9.77 seconds, but later tested positive for testosterone or its precursor. This resulted in a four-year ban and the annulment of his record. During his suspension, Gatlin served as a voluntary track coach at Woodham High School and pursued NFL tryouts with teams such as the Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a wide receiver.

Gatlin returned to competition in August 2010. Working with coaches including Loren Seagrave, Brooks Johnson, and Dennis Mitchell, he won his second 60-meter World Indoor title in 2012. He won bronze in the 100 meters at the 2012 London Olympics with a time of 9.79 seconds. In 2013, he defeated Usain Bolt in Rome and took silver medals in both the 100 meters and 4 × 100 meters relay at the World Championships. Gatlin set his overall 100-meter personal best of 9.74 seconds at the IAAF Doha Diamond League in May 2015, a time that ranks fifth on the male all-time list.

At the 2016 Olympics, Gatlin won silver in the 100 meters at age 34, becoming the oldest man to earn an Olympic medal in a non-relay sprint event. He reclaimed the 100-meter gold medal at the 2017 World Championships at age 35, 12 years after his first title. In 2019, he won relay gold and 100-meter silver at the World Championships, establishing a record total of eight global individual 100-meter medals and five individual World Championship 100-meter medals. Across his career, Gatlin produced 81 sub-10-second runs in the 100 meters, the second most in history, before retiring on his 40th birthday in 2022.