‘Not worried about you right now’

Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt explains dirty tactics used by Justin Gatlin in first-ever encounter.

Usain Bolt remains the most decorated sprinter of all time going by his achievements on track.

In his unmatched career that was characterised by complete dominance, the Jamaican faced head on, some of the best sprinters in his generation. However, it is rivalry with Justin Gatlin that brought the best out of the three-time Olympic 100m champion.

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The fastest man alive has revealed how the American tried to intimidate him before the 100m race at the World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Bolt, in an interview with Ready Set Go podcast said the 2004 Olympic champion Gatlin spat across his lane to try and intimidate him.

This, however, did not bother the Jamaican as he said: “And I can never forget, I ran out, I was coming back and he’s walking. He knows he’s walking, he does. And he kind of spat across my lane, and I looked up, and I smiled because I understood that he’s just trying to intimidate me, but I’m not worried about you right now.”

The rivalry between Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt has been one of the most followed rivalries on track on the sprinting events. Bolt triumphed over Gatlin most of the time and the Jamaican explained the bitter rivalry hardened him to develop intestinal fortitude. Gatlin defeated Bolt in the Jamaican’s last race of the World Championships in 2017.

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As the pair discussed, Bolt said the incident was still vivid on his mind, stating boldly: “Listen, bro. I can never forget, man, it was Zagreb.”

The duo later decided to bury their hatchets. Justin Gatlin’s personal best of 9.74 seconds ranks fifth on the all-time list of male 100-meter athletes. Bolt on the other hand, holds the 100m record with a time of 9.58 seconds he managed at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

While Gatlin is a two-time 100m World Champion (2005 & 2017), Bolt won a record four-100m world titles in his more-than a decade time on track. Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100m and 200m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016). He also won two 4×100 relay gold medals.

Bolt gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory.