"Usain Bolt knew no one could beat him"- Justin Gatlin weighs in on going head to head against the Jamaican athlete in major races of his career

By Agnijeeta Majumder

Modified Sep 10, 2024 06:05 GMT

Former US sprinter Justin Gatlin revealed how Usain Bolt always knew he was the best in his prime sprinting years. Gatlin was the Jamaican's arch-rival, who could never leave room for error when he raced the world record holder.

Gatlin competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics and won bronze in the 100m. He became the oldest athlete to win a medal in an Olympic non-relay event at 34. He boasts a record eight 100m medals across World Championships and Olympics, making him one of the most decorated 100m sprinters of all time. The five-time Olympic medalist concluded his track career in 2022 on his 40th birthday.

Despite shifting to podcasting, Gatlin often reminisces about the highly contentious races against the world record holder, Usain Bolt. In conversation with track coach Rodney Green in the Ready Set Go podcast, Gatlin talked about the stress of racing someone who knew he was the best.

"There's always a high-level of stress. It's the fact on that day, whoever can get it done the best. And Bolt was that dude. He knew no one can beat him. He said, if I drop them off at 35, who gonna touch me?" said Gatlin.

He also shared his racing strategy and how there would be a small margin of error.

"You get to a point, where, if you racing at a high level, the margin of error is so small. You gotta be damn near perfect....," he added.

The Brooklyn native was one of the few sprinters who trounced the Jamaican more than once in his career, first at the 2013 Golden Gala meet and second at the 2017 World Championships. In the latter event, his 100m win in 9.92s came twelve years after his world title in 2005.

Usain Bolt on Justin Gatlin - "I think Justin Gatlin, I have to give my hats off to him"

IAAF World Athletics Championships 2017 - Day 2 - Source: Getty

Usain Bolt's 100m and 200m world records remain unbroken and he has only three World championship medals that aren't gold. Despite being at the top, he lauded Justin Gatlin as a sprinter and shared how he kept the Jamaican on his toes, especially the last five years until retirement, via Obi One Podcast.

"I think Justin Gatlin, I have to give my hats off to him," he said. "The last five years of my career, maybe five six years, it was just me and him, every season and he kept me on my toes, and I love the competition," he added.

The 38-year-old also shared that Gatlin was indirectly a beacon of motivation when he warned of winning at the 2016 Rio Olympics and parading across America. That instance helped Bolt (who didn't feel his best before the Games) come back stronger and take all the wins in Rio.