University of Tennessee Athletics
Gatlin Strikes Olympic Gold in Athens, Nears World Record in Race of a Lifetime
August 22, 2004 | Men's Track
Aug. 22, 2004
ATHENS, Greece -- Former Vol Justin Gatlin seized the gold medal and flirted with the world record in the 100-meter dash Sunday in a masterful performance in his first Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In the finals at Olympic Stadium, the top four sprinters finished within four-hundredths of a second, and an astounding five men submarined the magical 10-second barrier in what some track journalists are calling the greatest race ever.
Gatlin won the world's most coveted prize for a sprinter when he sailed across the finish line in 9.85, the fastest time in the world this year and his personal best, in the 100 finals. The 9.85 moves Gatlin to fifth in the list of the fastest 100 men in history. Tim Montgomery holds the 100 world record at 9.78, just seven-hundredths of a second faster than Gatlin's Olympic effort.
Overshadowed by his fellow Americans Shawn Crawford, Gatlin's training partner and 2004 world leader entering the Games, and former world record holder Maurice Greene, Gatlin galloped to gold as a darkhorse candidate, just as he did to begin his legendary run at Tennessee in 2001. At age 22, Gatlin becomes the youngest Olympic 100 champion since Jim Hines in 1968.
"This is what I was born for," Gatlin said. "This is why I started running, and this is why I live. I said it was going to be the most exciting race in the world, and it was. This is what I train for, that's why I shoveled the snow off North Carolina tracks. That's why I'm here. I'm here to win the gold medal.
The marquee race of Sunday's Olympic track and field competition didn't disappoint. According the International Association of Athletics Federation reports, the lead changed hands three times in the final 10 meters. The IAAF reports that Greene might have been marginally ahead at 90 meters before Portugal's Francis Obikwelu overtook the field at 96 meters in the 100-meter test. However, Gatlin surged ahead at the tape in one last heave of effort to claim gold.
Gatlin froze the clock at 9.85 to win his first Olympic competition. Obikwelu finished just one-hundredth of a second behind in 9.86 to earn silver. Greene's 9.87 steamer proved good enough for bronze. Greene also ran a 9.87 to win the gold four years ago at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Crawford, the last of the American trio, finished fourth in 9.89. How fast was Crawford 's time when compared to other Olympiads? Crawford's 9.89 would have won every Olympic 100 title in history with the exception of two. Crawford entered the 2004 Games with a season-best 9.88 in the 100, the world leader this year.
Crawford, Gatlin's friend and training partner in Raleigh, N.C., had this to say about the newly crowed champion. "He ran a personal best," Crawford said. "He ran the race of his life, and I was proud to help push him to that. I know he's going to carry that title of Olympic gold medalist in the 100 with honor and dignity. I know it.
"I couldn't even feel the race," Gatlin said. "I felt like I was 100 miles before everybody. It was so close, but that's what it felt like. I don't think I ran a flawless race. I don't think [Crawford] ran a flawless race. I think we can go 9.7. I really didn't see Maurice's race, with him being so far away from me in lane seven. But I can say Maurice is a great competitor. He's one of the best competitors I know. So I just want to show that he's Olympic champion before, and he was a world record holder and much respect to him and everybody else in the race.
Earlier in the day, Gatlin earned his finals lane with a sixth-place overall finish in the 100 semifinals. Gatlin finished second in heat one with a 10.09 time. Crawford won semifinal heat one with a 10.07, which ranked fifth overall. Jamaica's Asafa Powell, considered a threat to win gold, won the first and faster semifinal heat in 9.95. American Greene took third overall in the semifinals with a 9.97 in the first heat.
In the fall of 2000, Gatlin arrived at Tennessee as a good high school 110 hurdler. After training and competing in Tennessee's program two years under the watchful guidance of former Vol assistant Vince Anderson, Gatlin won six consecutive NCAA titles. In fall 2002, Gatlin announced he was leaving Tennessee after his sophomore season to join the professional ranks. Just two years later, Gatlin stormed the world stage to rightly claim the title of world's fastest man.
Gatlin becomes the first former Vol to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event. Tennessee legend Sam Graddy won a gold on the 4x100 relay and a silver in the 100 in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Now that Gatlin owns the title of world's fastest man, fellow former Vol Tom Pappas begins his quest for the title of world's greatest all-around athlete in the decathlon Monday and Tuesday. Gatlin begins competition in the 200 Tuesday. Pole vaulter Tim Mack gets underway Wednesday.
Monday, Aug. 23 (All times EDT)
2:15 a.m. Tom Pappas, 100m dash (decathlon)
3:15 a.m. Tom Pappas, long jump (decathlon)
5:10 a.m. Tom Pappas, shot put (decathlon)
11:30 a.m. Tom Pappas, high jump (decathlon)
2:20 p.m. Tom Pappas, 400m dash (decathlon)
