Today, Thursday, Bolt made it 2-for-2, taking the 200-meter championship with a blazing 19.55, more incredible because he slowed down for the final 15 meters. Gatlin was again second, in 19.74.
Round 1 was a race for the ages. Fighting off the rust that accompanied an injury from two years ago, Jamaica's Usain Bolt held off an early-leaning Justin Gatlin to capture the world 100-meter title last Saturday evening.
The margin of victory was .01 seconds (9.79 to 9.80), but to the naked eye, the race looked like a tie.
Watching the race, I had a number of thoughts and feelings racing through my head. This was the most highly anticipated track race in years. At face value, it held enough drama. In lane 7 was Gatlin, the 33-year old who has been running his fastest ever times this season, and held a 28-race unbeaten streak which had stretched over two years.
Two lanes over was Bolt, the eight-time world champion and winner of six Olympic gold medals. Two months ago, I made a Facebook post pointing out that Bolt's best season times of 10.12 in the 100 and 20.18 in the 200 through June, were mere hundredths of a second better than Noah Lyles, a junior from T.C. Williams --- HIGH SCHOOL! -- in my hometown of Alexandria, VA. Through the summer, the man who reinvented the bow and arrow shooting pose would take until the end of July to dip under ten seconds for the 100-meters. Rumors of his demise were imminent, and Gatlin looked to become the new sheriff in town.
Funny thing with Bolt is that he always shows up when the lights are brightest, and Saturday was no exception. He overcame a rough start in the semifinals to find his drive phase and win from seventh place. In the finals, his start was better, but he still had to catch Gatlin with his last three strides to win at the tape. Sensing the 6'5" Bolt at his side, Gatlin tried to over-compensate at the very end, a move that made him lean five meters too soon, and allowed the Jamaican to win at the last step.
In spite of the fantastic race, the event was overshadowed with cries that the sprinting duel was a show of "good versus evil," and that the future of athletics hung in the balance. Many in the sports and social media world like to jump on the bandwagon of people who decry Gatlin as a "two-time" drug cheat. In fact, his first "offense" was overturned because the foreign substance in question was adderall, a prescription medicine that Gatlin had been taking since age nine for a diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) condition. He did serve a four-year suspension for the second offense, but denies intentional wrongdoing, and has passed 59 drug tests since returning to track in 2010.
In fact, a revealing article by Alan Abrahamson, best-selling author and founder of 3 Wire Sports (www.3wiresports.com), may shed some more light on this subject -- a light that gets cast in the direction of Trevor Graham, Gatlin's former trainer, and shows Graham's possible history of deception, especially since he was a key player in the BALCO scandal. Here is Abrahamson's article link:
http://www.3wiresports.com/2015/08/20/justin-gatlin-and-a-run-for-redemption/
For those who are simply interested in track, there is great news. Bolt and Gatlin will most likely square off again two more times this week - in the open 200, and as anchors of their country's 4x100 meter relay.
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