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.

In 2001, he incurred a two-year ban from athletics for testing positive for amphetamines, later reduced to one year because of an appeal.

In 2001, in his freshman year at Tennessee, Gatlin won NCAA outdoor titles in both the 100 and 200 meters.

Not long after, Gatlin was banned from international competition for two years by the IAAF after testing positive for amphetamines.

Gatlin appealed on the grounds that the positive test had been due to medication that he had been taking since his childhood, when he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.

The appeal resulted in an early reinstatement by the IAAF.

Gatlin was banned from international competition, but was still allowed to compete nationally as an NCAA athlete, and he went on to win 4 more NCAA titles; however, these do not count for records purposes on his international profile.

In an unexpected move, Gatlin decided to turn professional after his sophomore season, foregoing his remaining 2 years of collegiate eligibility.

He moved to Florida to begin training with new coach Trevor Graham.

In his first indoor season as a professional athlete, Gatlin won the national 60 meters title in Boston in 6.45 seconds, a personal best.

2 weeks later, Gatlin stormed to his first world title, clocking 6.46 at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

In addition, Gatlin is the 2003 and 2012 World Indoor Champion in the 60 meters.

He is a 5-time Olympic medalist and a 12-time World Championship medalist.

Not long after, Gatlin suffered a hamstring injury and was forced to miss the 2003 National Championships in Palo Alto, meaning he would miss the World Championships in Paris as well.

On August 15, despite a very inconsistent few months, Gatlin finally broke ten seconds in the 100 meters for the first time, with 9.97 at the Weltklasse Zürich.

He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 World Champion in the 200 meters, and the 2019 World Champion in the 4 x 100 meters relay.

Gatlin won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 2004 Olympics.

In order to fully recover and prepare for next year's Olympic Games in Athens, Gatlin and his coach decided to skip the 2004 indoor season.

Gatlin's plan worked and he qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, after finishing 2nd in both the 100 meters and 200 meters at the Olympic Trials in Sacramento.

The following month, Gatlin made history and won the Olympic 100 meter title in 9.85 seconds, a new personal best, only one hundredth slower than the Olympic record.

The finish was incredibly tight, with Francis Obikwelu of Portugal one hundredth behind for the silver medal, his teammate and defending champion Maurice Greene another hundredth back for the bronze medal, and his other teammate Shawn Crawford another two hundredths back for 4th place.

He is a two-time 100 meters World Champion (2005 & 2017) and a two-time 60 meters World Indoor Champion (2003 & 2012).

Gatlin won both the 100 meters and 200 meters at the 2005 World Championships.

In 2006, he incurred a further four-year ban for testing positive for testosterone, with this sanction erasing his then-world-record time of 9.77 seconds in the 100 meters.

Gatlin returned to competition in August 2010.

In June 2012 at the US Olympic trials, Gatlin ran a time of 9.80 seconds, which was the fastest-ever time recorded for a man over the age of 30.

At the London 2012 Olympics, he ran a time of 9.79 seconds, earning a bronze medal.

He won the Diamond League trophy in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Justin Gatlin's personal best of 9.74 seconds ranks fifth on the all-time list of male 100-meter athletes.

At the World Athletics Relays, Gatlin won two gold medals in the 4 x 100 meters relay in 2015 and 2017.

Gatlin is also a record 3-time Diamond League Champion in the 100 meters.

In May 2015 at the IAAF Doha Diamond League, at the age of 33, Gatlin broke his own 100m record for a man over the age of 30 by running 9.74 seconds, also Gatlin’s personal best over the distance.

He won his third Olympic medal in the 100 meters in the 2016 Olympic 100-meter final, finishing with the silver.

At 34, he became the oldest man to win an Olympic medal in a non-relay sprint event.

At the age of 35, Gatlin won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 2017 World Championships, 12 years after his first triumph in the event.

He is also a World Champion in the 4 x 100 meters relay, which the United States of America team won at the 2019 World Championships.

At the 2019 World Championships, Gatlin won the silver medal in the 100m in a time of 9.89, making him the most decorated 100m sprinter in World Championship history, with a record of five individual 100m medals.

Gatlin’s tally of eight global championship 100m medals (three Olympic and five World Championship) makes him the most decorated 100m sprinter of all time, a feat he accomplished at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.

Gatlin attended Woodham High School in Pensacola, Florida, where he competed as a hurdler.

He was eventually noticed by University of Tennessee coaches Vince Anderson and Bill Webb, who awarded him a scholarship and trained him to become a sprinter rather than a hurdler.