Usain Bolt’s recent appearance on Justin Gatlin’s podcast raises interesting questions about how we view cheating in sport
There is a shared hope that exists among athletics fans – certainly the majority of those in Britain – that the sport, and everyone in it, is united in the battle against drugs cheats. Vilify those who sully the sport’s name through their nefarious actions and cast them aside in the manner that UK Athletics has done in recent years by refusing to invite anyone convicted of major doping offences from competing at its events.
So when the latest episode of Justin Gatlin’s Ready Set Go podcast dropped a few weeks ago, with Usain Bolt as the special guest, it prompted eyebrows to be raised.
Since his sprinting retirement in 2022, Gatlin has developed a successful media career. In some sense, that is little surprise. Even at the height of his notoriety, when fans would jeer his name and his losses would be heralded as necessary to protect the future of the sport, Gatlin remained gregarious company, endearing anyone he personally encountered with his naturally amiable nature (the opposite of his frostiness when in the cauldron of the start line) and a wide smile.
Justin Gatlin wins 100m gold at London 2017 (Getty)
But there remained – indeed, there will forever remain – that drugs asterisk. Two of them, of course. The American’s first ban for amphetamines in 2001 was initially supposed to be for two years before it was reduced on appeal on the grounds that the substance in question was present in his ADHD medication.
When he was then caught in 2006 with excess testosterone in his system it could – and many argue should – have been the end of the line. Instead, he was banned for eight years, again shortened on appeal to four years due to mitigating circumstances and his cooperation with the process.
As for precisely what that entailed, we do not fully know. Despite relentless questioning in the media, Gatlin opted to never publicly discuss the episode in detail – a marked contrast with someone like Dwain Chambers, whose eagerness to publicly atone for his indiscretions resulted in his eventual acceptance by most, but not all, of the British athletics community after his steroid doping ban. Yet in his native country – which retains a rather different view of sportspeople who transgress, compared to the treatment bestowed this side of the Atlantic – Gatlin’s public standing did not much suffer.
On the track, he made two Olympic 100m podiums upon returning to the sport and memorably claimed the world title at London 2017. Behind him that day, running his final ever individual race, was Bolt, occupying a rare bronze medal position after extending his career for one season too far following his golden treble at the Rio Olympics. For a number of years, the pair were cast as good versus evil, eliciting BBC commentator Steve Cram’s famous line when the Jamaican pipped Gatlin to world 100m gold in 2015: “He’s saved his title, he’s saved his reputation, he may have even saved his sport.”
Justin Gatlin (Mark Shearman)
So why is Bolt now appearing on a podcast hosted by a direct rival convicted of trying to cheat his way to glory? And, furthermore, when asked by Gatlin on the podcast to name his dream all-time 100m line-up, did Bolt really think it reasonable to include the disgraced figure of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson (who was born in the same Jamaican parish)?
Is it naive to think that everyone in the sport possesses the same disdain for dopers that so many athletics fans do? After all, they do not just destroy the sport’s entire reputation but directly threaten to rob fellow competitors of medals, money and livelihoods.
To judge by Bolt’s presence on Gatlin’s show, the answer must be yes. The Jamaican – the only man among the six fastest 100m runners in history never to have served some sort of drugs ban – has always been reluctant to accept his role as the sport’s saviour. Memorably, for the journalists in attendance, he sniggered while Gatlin was grilled about his doping past while sitting next to him at the 2015 World Championships 100m final post-race press conference.
Usain Bolt (Getty)
Two years later, on the same stage following Gatlin’s 2017 world title win, Bolt elaborated slightly, insisting that “Justin has done his time and proven himself over the years”.
Unsurprisingly, the closest the almost two-hour podcast episode comes to discussing such matters is when Gatlin thanks his former rival for not hindering his return to the sport in 2010 following his second drugs ban – a period obliquely referred to as his “absence”.
The American tells Bolt: “The influence that you had at that point in time, you could easily have had a soundbite in an interview where you said: ‘I don’t want to race against him.’ And you literally could have ended my career.”
The gratitude is evidently mutual, with Bolt describing Gatlin as “one of the greatest persons I ever competed with”. Crediting the American’s presence with encouraging him to train so hard, he adds: “[Gatlin] kept at it for six years. Every year, every year, every year. There was no let-up. I couldn’t miss a day. It was one of the best times and I really enjoyed it.
“Tyson [Gay] was two years, Asafa [Powell] was one year, [Yohan] Blake was one year. But me and Justin been going at it for years. It was great to have a competitor you know is going to keep you on top of your game.”
If we ignore the unexplored elephant in the room, the conversation takes many interesting turns while meandering through Bolt’s career. Gatlin reveals he did not watch the Jamaican’s I Am Bolt documentary until after the end of his career as “I didn’t want to humanise you yet because I knew I was going to like you”.
Of their vastly different startline personas, he tells Bolt: “I was the opposite of you. You needed to be comfortable in your environment because then you knew you were able to race at your highest level. Away from the track, I was like you on the track: I was cool, relaxed, chilled. I knew that person away from the track would not do the job, for me, on the track. I needed to be that monster, I needed to be aggressive.”
We hear how Bolt met with Nike executives some time around 2012, which then prompted his long-time sponsor Puma to match their proposed deal. “Nike got me paid, bro,” laughs Bolt.
The Jamaican also reveals that he spotted a weakness in Gatlin – who had been the dominant force all season – ahead of the 2015 World Championships 100m final, when the American spoke to him before a race for the first time in their careers: “That’s what helped me a little bit. He’s nervous. We’re good.” Bolt would hunt him down to prevail by just 0.01.
It all makes for an entertaining journey down memory lane between two men who clearly retain the utmost respect for one another. Perhaps that is entirely understandable; after all, the presence of the other pushed them to greatness for years.
But if this really is the attitude of the finest sprinter in athletics history, then what does it say about how we should view cheating in the sport? And as for wanting to run against Johnson… let’s not even get started on that.
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