RALEIGH, North Carolina-AMERICAN sprinter Justin Gatlin has firmly stated that his four year ban from athletics has not slowed him down and he plans to challenge the likes of Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay in the upcoming season.
Reuters has reported that the former Olympic and 2005 World Champion in the 100m and 200m is brimming with confidence that he can be the one to dethrone world record holder Bolt.
“I could beat them before. I don't see why I can't run with them now. Times don’t scare me,” he told the news agency.
Gatlin was banned from competition in 2006 after he tested positive for high levels of the male hormone testosterone, though the sprinter denied taking any illegal substance.
He is set to officially return to the track on July 25 of this year, but it is not yet known if Gatlin will have a chance to face the world’s elite sprinters due to an agreement by European organizers to not invite athletes who have previously been banned by the IAAF for long periods of time.
If allowed to run, however, Gatlin says that he has a good of a chance as any runner out there to be the one who defeats Bolt.
“You've got to respect the times, they are fast times,” he said. “But I feel that if one man can do it, then the next man can do it as well.”
Bolt stunned the world last year when he once again broke the 100m and 200m world records in Berlin, setting them at an unbelievably low 9.58sec and 19.19sec, respectively.
Gatlin’s own personal bests stand at 9.85sec in the 100m and 19.86sec in the 200m. He had run a 9.77sec in the 100m in May of 2006, but it was annulled due to his ban.
When the charges were originally levied against Gatlin, he was sentenced to a likely career-ending eight-year ban, but was eventually able to negotiate down to a four-year ban after he agreed to aid authorities in a federal steroids investigation.
