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"Nobody's ego or athletic achievements are in danger" - Justin Gatlin proposes 1v1 300m between Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Marileidy Paulino
Former sprinter Justin Gatlin believes that the organizers of the Diamond League should have set up a one-on-one 300m clash between 400-meter hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 400-meter flat champion Marileidy Paulino. The 2004 Olympic gold medalist’s suggestion comes after the Brussels Diamond League Finals excluded McLaughlin-Levrone, instead announcing two invitational races for her: 200 meters and 400 meters
Over the years, McLaughlin-Levrone has revolutionized the 400-meter hurdles, significantly lowering the world record by nearly two seconds. Outside of the 400m hurdles, she is also a formidable competitor over the 400m flat as well as the 200m and 100m hurdles.
Paulino, on the other hand, has completely dominated the 400m event in the last couple of years, winning both the Olympic and world titles in the distance. She is a two-time Diamond League champion in the distance and is poised to clinch her third consecutive title in 2024.
Gatlin suggests that with Paulino's undisputed dominance in the 400m making the race less competitive, the Diamond League should have offered her a one-on-one match against McLaughlin-Levrone and doubled her potential earnings from winning the Diamond League title. Speaking on his podcast, 'Ready, Set, Go', he said,
“You need these 1v1 races that they should set up. My favorite, a 300m between Sydney and Paulino and you pay Paulino double the amount of money if she would win the Diamond League, mostly likely she will. But you say come on over here we'll pay you more than if you'd have won and then bring in Sydney and you'll do a 1v1 and guess what, nobody's ego or athletic achievements are in danger cuz it's a 300m." (12:00-13:00)
While Marileidy Paulino would be the favorite, McLaughlin-Levrone cannot be discounted. Although the latter has limited experience in the 300m, her personal best of 36.12 seconds is impressive. Paulino holds a faster personal best of 35.16 seconds.
Justin Gatlin reacts to Mondo Duplantis vs Karsten Warholm's 1v1 100m race at the Zurich Diamond League
Pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis recently challenged 400m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm for a 100m sprint. The two athletes faced off at the 2024 Zurich Diamond League, and while Warholm was the favorite, Duplantis crossed the finish line first.
Duplantis clocked an impressive 10.37s while Warholm came home in 10.47s. Speaking about the race, Justin Gatlin lauded the two athletes and has called more of such 1v1 events.
“We love the one-v-one, that was exciting, neither one of them were elite sprinters and if you look at how the stadium was, it was packed and this was not even the day of the real competition, they did it a day before," he said
The race between Duplantis and Warholm was the first 1v1 race to be officially organized and sponsored and has set the precedence for many such events in the future.
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