Eugene (United States), Kingstown, Jamaica: Controversial US sprinter Justin Gatlin signalled his intention to reign again on the world stage on Sunday, seizing the US 200m title in a blazing 19.57 sec.
The victory at the US Athletics Championships raised the prospect of a mouthwatering double duel with sprint king Usain Bolt at the August 22-30 World Championships in Beijing.
It was a dominant performance, Gatlin coming off the turn with a clear lead and powering home to become the fifth-fastest man ever at the distance.
With his career-best performance, the 33-year-old improved on his own prior season-leading time of 19.68, set on the same Hayward Field track at the Eugene Diamond League meeting in May.
With his 100m berth in Beijing assured by virtue of his 2014 Diamond League title, Gatlin had skipped the 100m at the US Championships.
His focus on the 200 paid off handsomely, as over the course of two days he delivered three sub-20 second races: leading Saturday’s heats in a seemingly effortless 19.92 before posting 19.90 in Sunday’s semi-finals.
“I would say it’s the most complete, technically, 200 I ever ran,” Gatlin said of the final — although after an excellent start he was surprised to see training partner Isiah Young in front of him going into the turn.
That didn’t last long, as Gatlin swept to the lead, leaving Young to finish second in 19.93 with Wallace Spearmon third in 20.10.
Gatlin nevertheless believes there is room for improvement, and he’ll review all of the rounds looking for ways to gain precious fractions of a second.
“It’s all about strategy and technique,” he said.
Gatlin, who owns the top 100m time this year of 9.74 sec has sounded bullish on his chances of breaking Bolt’s 100m world mark of 9.58 sec.
Whether he can approach Bolt’s 200m world record of 19.19 — or Michael Johnson’s American record of 19.32 — seems less certain.
“Growing up, to even speak of a 19.3 — that’s Michael Johnson,” Gatlin said. “You can’t even say the words that you look up to that, or look up to him — 19.3 was something unfathomable.”
Nevertheless, Gatlin will do all he can to get there, even as critics continue to point out that his current success comes in the wake of two doping bans, the most recent a four-year suspension that ended in 2010.
“I’m going to go out there and give 100 per cent effort every time I have an opportunity to do so,” Gatlin said. “If 19.3 is in the scope then I’ll go for that.”
In Kingstown, Jamaica, Elaine Thompson celebrated her 23rd birthday by winning the 200 metres at the Jamaican trials on Sunday, signalling a possible changing of the guard in Jamaican women’s sprints.
Thompson overcame a strong field to win in 22.51 seconds, running into a stiff headwind of 2.4 metres per second and booked her spot on the Jamaican team for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August.
Thompson is the fifth-fastest woman in the world in the 100 metres this season with 10.84 seconds, but was controversially left out of the short sprint this weekend by coach Stephen Francis.
Sherone Simpson was second in the 200 metres in 22.77 seconds while two-time Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown repeated her third place in the 100 metres by running 23.02 seconds at National Stadium.
She said she felt no pressure after veteran training partner and 100-metres winner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce decided not to run the 200 metres.
“I tried my best to come off the corner first and pushed from there to the line,” said Thompson, who was one of four first-time winners on the final day of the four-day championships.
Nickel Ashmeade won his first 200-metre national title in 20.36 seconds as he just held off a hard-charging Warren Weir (20.39 seconds) with Julian Forte third in 20.51 seconds.
Javon Francis raced to 44.70 seconds to win his first men’s 400-metre title just ahead of Rusheen McDonald who came on strong at the end but had to settle for second in 44.73.
Christine Day provided Sunday’s biggest surprise as she won the women’s 400 metres, equalling her personal best 50.16 seconds.
