The 2004 Olympic champion has disclosed the 200m he is rooting for this season as he snubbed Gabby Thomas, Julien Alfred and Shericka Jackson.
American sprint icon Justin Gatlin has sidelined Gabby Thomas and Julien Alfred as he named the one athlete he is rooting for this season.
The 2004 Olympic 100m champion revealed that Dina Asher-Smith, a former world 200m champion has seemingly regained her form and she would be hard to beat in the 200m.
Gatlin explained that it would be amazing to see what she can do this season especially after a tough Olympic Games where she missed medals in both the 100m and 200m.
Dina Asher-Smith finished fourth in the 200m final and missed out on the final in the women’s 100m at the Paris Olympic Games. He lauded Dina Asher-Smith, referring to her as a star who has already made a name for herself in Great Britain where she remains an icon.
“I’ll be rooting for her, man, I want to see Dina get it because she is already a star. When you see her, I think she is on the front of the European Vogue,” Justin Gatlin said on the Ready Set Go podcast.
Gatlin added that from her season opener at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix where she finished second behind Julien Alfred in the 300m, Dina Asher-Smith would definitely be lethal in the 200m.
She started the race from the blocks impressively but Julien Alfred caught up with her at about the 250m mark and sprinted to the finish line though she seemed to be struggling.
Gatlin also revealed that Julien Alfred ran a tactical race and that being her first race the season, there are going to be very tough rivalries renewed once the outdoor season kicks off.
“She (Julien) had a great session and I say session because her training partner was in that race, Dina Asher-Smith. I didn’t think she did badly at all, I mean, especially coming through the 200m mark, she was right there,” Gatlin added.
“That tells me they are going to be ready to run some good 200s. The thing that I saw between their running styles is that when it’s time to sustain a certain speed and fight off that lactic acid, Julien goes to them shoulders. That helped her run down the track.”
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On his part, Rodney Green, Justin Gatlin’s co-host was also impressed by how Dina Asher-Smith competed, revealing that it was a warning sign to reigning Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas.
He also observed that Dina Asher-Smith almost beat Julien Alfred in the 300m race but inexperience cost her the victory.
Green noted that Dina comes from a background where she only competed in the 100m and 200m during trainings hence the struggle to keep up beyond the 200m mark, unlike Julien Alfred who was used to that.
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“She took her out in the 200m, she took her out for like 250m and the reason why I feel like Dina did well, it’s because Julien comes from a system where she was in the college system, she did the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and the 4x400m. She is used to run laps so once Flo puts in that type of training, she is used to it,” he shared.
Dina Asher-Smith and Julien Alfred have already tested the waters in 2025, unlike other sprinters who are waiting for the outdoor races to kick off.
However, all the hard work and effort from the athletes is primarily for the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan that will determine the crème de la crème.
