Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
Justin Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 metres, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 metres, the 2005 World Champion in the 200 metres, and the 2019 World Champion in the 4 x 100 metres relay. In addition, Gatlin is the 2003 and 2012 World Indoor Champion in the 60 metres. He is a 5-time Olympic medalist and a 12-time World Championship medalist. At the World Athletics Relays, Gatlin won two gold medals in the 4 x 100 metres relay in 2015 and 2017. Gatlin is also a record 3-time Diamond League Champion in the 100 metres. 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-metre athletes. He is a two-time 100 metres World Champion (2005 & 2017) and a two-time 60 metres World Indoor Champion (2003 & 2012). Gatlin won both the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 2005 World Championships. He is also a World Champion in the 4 x 100 metres relay, which the United States of America team won at the 2019 World Championships.
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 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 metres.
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. 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.
Gatlin won the gold medal in the 100 metres at the 2004 Olympics. At the London 2012 Olympics, he ran a time of 9.79 seconds, earning a bronze medal. He won his third Olympic medal in the 100 metres in the 2016 Olympic 100-metre 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 metres at the 2017 World Championships, 12 years after his first triumph in the event. 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.