Justin Gatlin ready to challenge Usain Bolt, one last time

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London: Justin Gatlin has become increasingly irritated at being labelled the dope cheat contrasting with Usain Bolt's superhero image in the sprinting world. But he can set that aside by spoiling the latter's farewell at the World Athletics Championships.

The 35-year-old American - who last year became the oldest man to win a 100m Olympic medal when he took silver behind his nemesis Bolt - gets one last go at the Jamaican legend when the world championships get underway in London on Friday.

It will be asking a lot of Gatlin - who served a four-year ban reduced from eight for doping from 2006-2010 - to achieve that having only beaten Bolt once in nine previous meetings over the shorter sprint distance, and that was four years ago in Rome.

Gatlin gushed about Bolt. "I have the utmost respect for Usain," said Gatlin.

"Away from the track, he's a great guy, he's a cool guy, there is no rivalry between us. There is no bad blood. I'm a competitor, he's a competitor and he has pushed me to be the athlete that I am today," he said.

Ironically, as Gatlin told the New York Times last year, he saw himself still as Batman but in his role as 'a vigilante'.
"I was too angry; it was deteriorating my character," he told the newspaper. "I didn't like who I had become."

OneIndia News