A biography for Justin Gatlinhasn’t been written yet.
“Our sport is surrounded by nine seconds, and that's how long the attention span is for fans: if you can grasp those nine seconds, you're the man of the hour.”
“Running with someone like Maurice Greene - competing shoulder to shoulder with him - and then running against Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell. And now the young guys, Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles. I'm the only guy that's crossed three generations of sprinters.”
“People want to label people and that's all they want to do. They don't want to get to know them, they don't want to understand the story, in-depth.”
“There are not going to be medals passed out to everybody in the world. It is going to be passed out to one person, the champion.”
“I've just got to pull myself together and hold my head up high.”
“Carl Lewis was definitely a role model.”
“No one has to talk disrespectful to anybody. We're just here to run.”
“It's a showman's sport. I think the rivalry that I have with Usain and myself has turned it into a professional-wrestling feel.”
“I know what it feels like to wake up and not be able to run. You don't feel whole.”
“Sometimes you can block out a lot of things because you're thinking about so much and you can distract yourself, but sometimes that distraction of being ADD can really set you back.”
“I think of myself as a time-jumper.”
“Being perceived as a villain gave me energy.”
“I always need to find somewhere to sit, or something to lean on.”
“What is it really going to amount to if I go out there and run against Usain when he is not at his best? That is not a great storyline. It is not a race I would like to go out and win.”
“I'm 34, and I'll be the oldest sprinter ever on a podium. I'm just happy to be here.”
“I find that as an athlete, we don't get to speak our mind often or share our hearts. So I chose motivational speaking to help make a difference.”
“I'm not just a runner. I'm not just a fast guy. I'm a fighter. I'm a survivor in life.”
“I come out to do what everyone else is trying to do, which is run, run fast and win.”
“I remember reading one blog site where one blogger said I looked like a professional wrestler on the track. I was a big boy. I was looking at myself in the mirror and saying, 'I look good!' But I wasn't looking race good.”
“I didn't look at age as being a reason to stop running or become slower.”