2014 WAS GATLIN’S YEAR

Love him or hate him you can’t deny that Justin Gatlin has perhaps been the track and field athlete of 2014.

Notwithstanding the accomplishments of Essa Mutaz Barshim and Bohdan Bondareko, who together made the high jump the event to watch this past season, the former clearing 2.43m, the second best jump of all time, the controversial American sprinter was supremely dominant in 2014.

Gatlin went unbeaten throughout the season and he won races by huge margins. Detractors will always argue that Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake were out for much of the season but you cant deny what stands clearly before you. Gatlin has run times this season that even Bolt would be hard-pressed to beat.

The 32-year-old twice suspended American has seven of the 10 fastest times in the world this year -9.77, 9.80, 9.82, 9.82, 9.83, 9.86 and 9.87 – were his best times this season. The 9.80 was run in virtually still conditions in Lausanne, so too was the 9.82 in Linz. The 9.86 in Ostrava was run in wind of -0.4. In fact, all of his fastest times were run in wind conditions ranging from -0.4 to 0.7 m/s, very impressive by any measure.

Now there are people will argue with some justification that Gatlin should not have been competing having twice failed drug tests and had been banned for life after he turned up elevated levels of testosterone in 2006 after he ran a fast 9.76s, I think it was in Doha. But since his return, he has yet to fail a drug test and its not like he returned four years ago now and began running fast right away. It has been a gradual progression.

People forget that in 2012 at the Olympics in London, it took 9.63 from Bolt and 9.75 from Yohan Blake to relegate Gatlin to third in the men’s 100-metre final where he stopped the clock in 9.79s. That was after three rounds of competition on a cool night in London. In 18 one-off races this season including heats and finals he only managed 9.77. There was a 9.76s run in Eugene, Oregon,but that time was assisted by a massive 2.7m/s.

Coming into this past season, Gatlin dropped his weight down to what it was while he was in college, he said, while managing to maintain his strength. He has also managed to clean up his technique and I believe those adjustments have benefited him greatly. Notwithstanding the doubts that still surround his performances, which I fear will never diminish, 2015 promises to be quite a dramatic year if we consider the possibility of Bolt returning to full fitness following an off-season where he only raced three times if you don’t count his relay anchor legs in Glasgow.

There is also the possibility of Asafa Powell making a strong return after a strong 9.90s season-ender in Rieti and the continued rise of Kemar Bailey-Cole, who has demonstrated that he ready to run with the big boys. There is also the return of Tyson Gay to be taken into consideration. With Mike Rodgers in the mix and unknown quantities like Kemarley Brown and the possible return of Yohan Blake, the ride to Beijing will be intense and the 100-metre finals there possibly historic.

But that’s 2015. For the time being I believe Gatlin can boast of being the best sprinter of 2014 and perhaps even the best athlete. Yes, there are can be cases made for Sandra Perkovic whose dominance in the discus throw was diminished by a couple of losses, Valerie Adams who was unable to throw at the IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech, and of course the high-flying Barshim and Bondarenko but at the end of the day, one could argue that it was Gatlin who shone brightest.