Not the Gatlin I know…Looked flat. Didnt have that pop off the track he used to have.
The Irish Times - Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Gatlin returns to win after four-year drug ban
US sprinter Justin Gatlin who comfortably won his 100 metres heat earlier in the day, finished with a time of 10.24 seconds to win the final at last night’s Kuldliiga meet in Estonia.
That was an improvement of 0.10 seconds on the 28-year-old’s time in his heat, but some way off his personal best of 9.85. Compatriots J-Mee Samuels and Rubin Williams were 0.07 and 0.30secs further back respectively.
Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100 metres champion, was running at the KuldLiiga meeting in Rakvere, Estonia, as he started his comeback aiming for the Olympic Games in London in 2012.
He bettered his heat time of 10.34 seconds but ran far from his personal best of 9.85 in winning the final ahead of fellow American J-Mee Samuels who finished in 10.31.
“I came off the blocks and stumbled a little bit and my first 20 (metres) was not on point like it was in the prelims, but I think I kept my composure towards the end of the race and I finished well,” Gatlin said.
“I got a lot of the butterflies out and I am ready to go and run and compete.”
His coach Loren Seagrove said: “He was behind by one meter at the 40, and that is not typical, but in the last 40 meters he was quite strong.”
Gatlin had not run a competitive race since June 2006 after being banned because of a positive test for the male sex hormone testosterone and its precursors.
He said he was a little disappointed with his time before adding:
“It feels good to just get my feet wet and to come back and that is what my coach wanted.”
The 28-year-old regained his eligibility to compete in July but was expected to have difficulty finding races even after the ban ended because of a Euro Meetings recommendation not to invite athletes who bring dispute to the sport.
However, the organisers of the Estonian meetings, which are not members of the Euro group, welcomed Gatlins participation.
“Now we are going to work on getting the strength and hopefully (at the next meet in Tallinn) on August 8th we are going to lower that time as well,” said Gatlin.
After finally spending four years in exile, Gatlin declined to reveal what he plans next.
“Right now I am just going to focus on Tallinn and then worry about what is after that,” he said.
faster than my prediction. I doubt he will be fucking with the top 6 in the world anytime soon if ever. He will be semi competitive in the US. But we never know what next year has in store. Damn jmee was giving it too him for most of the race. But this is his first race in years. Jmee should be ashamed!
DROB is a beast… Thats not a fair comparison… We’ll see though. He better be on the “up and up” cuz they are hawking him. I really hope he can run some good times…
And what the hell happened to samuels? I saw that kid run 10.05 at a meet at a HS senior. I thought he would be running sub 10 by now…
he lost it when he cut his hair. he has been a slight bust.
I thought he was going to stop running at 20-30m…
After 4 years out he did great! Yes he looked flat, heavy and so on but he will get better and u know what…he will break 10 this year if he just keeps racing and training.
I agree 110%!!!
What do you guys think of him choosing seagrave? Ben was in the same situation when he came back too…
Doubt he had many other options. Hopefully it will work out for him.
What’s wrong with Seagrave??
J Mee Samuels, who Gatlin beat by 0.07 in Estonia, just ran 10.03 +1.0 in Lucerne. Maybe Gatlin is faster right now than his 10.24 indicated.
Gatlin’s today time was 10.17… Nice… 
He will go 9.9 this year and next yr watch out 9.7…
wOULD HOPE SO… next meet…August 21, in Finland…no warm meets???
Gatlin wins second race of comeback
28-year-old former Olympic champ won 100m in 10.17 seconds
By Associated Press | Posted: Aug 8, 11:43a ET
Justin Gatlin wins comeback in Rakvere
August 3, 2010: Justin Gatlin wins his comeback 100m race in 10.24 seconds in Rakvere, Estonia.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – Justin Gatlin won his second 100-meter race in a week at the Ergo Games on Sunday during his low-key return to track after a four-year doping ban.
The 28-year-old former Olympic champion finished in 10.17 seconds, beating fellow American Justin Williams by 0.08 seconds at the small meet in the Estonian capital. Aleksandr Linnik of Belarus was third in 10.59.
Gatlin got off to a sluggish start, but his acceleration at the halfway point helped him to pull away from the rest of the field and finish the race comfortably in first place.
“I think it was a good race,” Gatlin told The Associated Press. “My body’s been aching a bit due to a lot of training.”
The sprinter made his comeback at a small meet in the northeastern Estonian town of Rakvere on Tuesday, winning in 10.24.
Gatlin won gold in the 100 at the 2004 Athens Olympics in 9.85, then tested positive in April 2006 for excessive testosterone.
Gatlin is likely to next race at the Joensuu Games in Finland on Aug. 21.
It’s been around 30 degrees for several weeks in Joensuu with a new record of 37 degrees that beat the old “national record” from 1914.
At the moment it’s warm enough…
Gatlin will be racing against Steve Mullings (SB 10.03), very interesting stuff! I hope they’ll get a nice tail wind and go sub-10.10.
When???..