Few rivalries in the history of track and field have been as notable as the one between Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin, where success and glory are formed through intense competition. Even now, people talk about their legendary on-track confrontations. Usain Bolt has even given an iconic Olympic story from his time in the games. He said that he received a video in which American sprinter Michael Gatlin responded, “I’m going to beat him and I’m going to wear my gold medal around my neck like a gold chain,” when asked if he would beat the fastest man in the world.

Bolt responded, saying, “I was like, ‘All right, let’s go!'” I mean, I’m that competitive right,” demonstrating how strongly they felt about each other. Years after they retired, Justin Gatlin has now come clean about a crucial race in which Usain Bolt beat him in his best-ever season of running.

Justin Gatlin opens up about the time Usain Bolt made him cry

Andrew Martin from Total Running Productions joined Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green on the Ready Set Go podcast during an episode titled “Track Beef vs. Rivalries, The infamous Usain GOAT Video, Track Failing with Total Running Productions.” When Andre apologised to Justin for how he had depicted him in a previous video he had made, it was a very memorable moment.

In addition to admitting that he didn’t fully understand the difficulties of depicting actual people, Andrew Martin brought up a video he had shot in 2015 showing Usain Bolt narrowly defeating Justin in a race. As Andrew Martin apologised, clips from the race played, showing a tearful-eyed Justin Gatlin—who had just lost to Usain Bolt—in the lead.

After giving this some thought, Justin replied politely, acknowledging the apology and offering his thoughts on the incident and its fallout. He stated, “I’ve talked about that story where it was the only race that brought emotions out of me,” and he viewed the race as a teaching moment.Let’s go back in time and examine why Justin Gatlin was crying at the time as we consider these statements.

The iconic track moment

Let’s go back to the August 23, 2015, 5th IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, where Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt faced off in the men’s 100-meter final. With a time of 9.79 seconds, Bolt won despite the intense competition between the two. In contrast, Gatlin finished with a time of 9.80 seconds, just 0.01 seconds slower than Bolt. The race was extremely exciting because of the narrow gap, which also demonstrated both racers’ abilities.

After we left the sport, Justin Gatlin opened up about their competition and said, “I realised that Bolt helped me become a better athlete, and vice-versa.”Fans of track look forward to seeing the same level of respect and competitive spirit during the Olympic year as we remember this historic rivalry.