Track and field has always been about the quickest times an athlete has achieved throughout his career. This can sometimes result in the record holder being remembered solely for their record instead of their personality. Besides, such a custom also represents a major issue that the sport needs to address, as Justin Gatlin discussed on his Ready Set Go podcast on YouTube.
The four-time world champion, who has watched many competitors come and go in the sport, completely understands the purpose of track and field, as he stated:
“It’s about breaking the boundaries.”
These boundaries are not simply based on time and other records, but rather, according to Gatlin, are about being more than an athlete. He wants people to recognize the track stars’ qualities even when they are not on the track. Similarly, the 42-year-old also seeks to pass on his experience to new athletes and build something that future generations will remember him for, rather than just his sprinting achievements.
As an example, Florence Griffith Joyner, who still holds the record for the fastest woman in the world, is recognized solely for her performance, with little knowledge of her human characteristics or personality. This partial recognition is what confuses Gatlin, and he even addressed the issue by saying,
“I feel like we put too much hard work into, like our craft, to just be forgotten. I never understood why so many athletes just walk away from something they did day in, day out for their whole adult life, and probably half of the adolescence. To do justice for your whole career is to pass the game on to the next, and they will remember who did that for them, and they’ll go on and the same thing next.”
Well, while Justin Gatlin has always given valuable insights to the track community, he was once unaware of a statistic that Rodney A. Green disclosed to him.
Rodney A. Green Unveils a Surprising Track and Field Stat to Justin Gatlin
In an episode of the ‘Ready Set Go’ podcast, Rodney A. Green told Justin Gatlin that he was the last American athlete to win the gold medal in the 100-meter sprint at the Olympics. This surprised the four-time world champion, but he acknowledged it, noting that Usain Bolt won Olympic gold in the 100 meters in 2008, 2012, and 2016, while Lamont Marcell Jacobs was the most recent winner.
In light of this record, he even encouraged American athletes, including Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, and Fred Kerley, claiming that the Olympic Games in Paris would be a fantastic opportunity for them to break the record and bring home the gleaming gold medal for the United States.
