Gatlin wants simple life, consistent performances
By NED BARNETT, Raleigh News & Observer
February 6, 2005
RALEIGH - It may sound impossible to catch up with the world’s fastest man, but it’s easy once he sits down.
Justin Gatlin sat briefly this week on the infield of N.C. State’s Paul Derr Track to talk about his life since the 2004 Athens Olympics. He brought home a complete set of medals, a gold in the 100-meter dash, a silver in the 4-by-100 relay and a bronze in the 200.
It’s the gold that has had the impact. That win in track’s premier event earned him the “fastest man” title, bonus money, his picture on the Wheaties box, appearances on the Emmys and The David Letterman Show and the role of grand marshal in the Raleigh Christmas Parade.
Gatlin, at 22 the youngest Olympic 100 champion since Jim Hines in 1968, is enjoying the recognition.
“I think everybody wants a little fame, a little credit for what they’ve done, especially if they work hard for it,” said Gatlin, a New York native who grew up in Pensacola, Fla., and moved to Raleigh to train in 2002. “I’m out here in 20-degree weather or below running, so a little stardom wouldn’t hurt.”
Sometimes in Raleigh, Gatlin meets people who know he’s somebody, but they’re not sure whom.
“A lot of people have noticed me from, I wouldn’t say the oddest things, but like, ‘Hey, you’re the guy in the Christmas parade,’ as opposed to the guy on television in the Olympics,” he said. “That’s a little exciting. People might not know anything about track, but they still acknowledge me and remember my face.”
Gatlin, who is single, is enjoying more tangible fruits of his success. He recently purchased a three-bedroom home in Raleigh and something for the driveway - a Porsche 911 Carrera.
The sprinter, who left the University of Tennessee to turn pro after his sophomore year, continues to take classes toward earning a degree in communications. He attends St. Augustine’s College on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“I have all this new stuff happening right now,” he said. “Sometimes it can be time-consuming and sometimes to the point of overwhelming, but that’s life, I guess.”
For all the attention - Gatlin is weary of signing Wheaties boxes - he came to the “world’s fastest man” title at a time when doping scandals have muted the acclaim for sprinters. Skepticism follows the top performers, and corporations may be slower to embrace them.
Gatlin is tested often and randomly. When his training group took a vacation in Jamaica this winter, drug testers showed up at his door early one morning.
His coach, Trevor Graham, fueled the BALCO doping scandal by providing the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency with a syringe containing a previously undetectable steroid. The coach wishes more was being done than testing urine samples.
“I wish they would blood-test everybody, and that would really show who is clean and who is not,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gatlin runs on. He’ll open his outdoor season by running in relays, including the Raleigh Relays in March and the Penn Relays in April. Ultimately, his focus is on Helsinki, Finland, where he will seek his first world outdoor titles Aug. 6-14 at the IAAF World Championships.
Gatlin doesn’t want Olympic success to slow him down. He’s trying to keep his life simple, his workouts hard, his performances consistent.
“I have to convince myself that, OK, (the gold medal) is a big deal, but it’s not a big deal. I have to stay focused and train like I’m No. 2,” he said.
Gatlin trains with a man who could quickly make him No. 2. Shawn Crawford won the 2004 Olympic gold in the 200 meters and was favored to beat his training partner in the 100.
This year, Gatlin says he can break the world 100-meter record of 9.78 seconds, set in 2002 by Tim Montgomery, who trained under Graham and lives with Olympian Marion Jones near Chapel Hill. Montgomery is facing allegations that he used steroids.
“This is a perfect year for a world record to be broken,” Gatlin said. As the reigning Olympic champion, Gatlin said he’d be pushed by other runners and feels he has to silence “people out there who are claiming that they are the best.”
What Gatlin wants most is to get back on the Olympic stage. He can remember every detail of the moments before and after he prevailed in 9.85 seconds over the fastest field in Olympic history. Now he’s eager to run in the next Olympics in Beijing, China.
For the fastest man, that time is coming too slowly.
“Every day,” he said, “I wish 2008 was this year.”