August 22, 2004 7:56 pm
Gatlin sprints to hotly contested 100 gold
ATHENS, Greece — They didn’t shatter any records, as a packed-house at Olympic Stadium hoped on Sunday night, but Justin Gatlin and a pack of pursuers sure did deliver a bang for all those folks’ euros.
In an Olympic 100-meter final that had all trappings of a heavyweight championship fight, Gatlin blazed to triumph in 9.85 seconds over one of the fastest fields of sprinters ever gathered.
"It means the world to me," said Gatlin. "It’s a dream come true; that’s why I came here, to win the Olympic gold medal.
"It was like the (U.S. Olympic) Trials. I had a great start, and I had the ability to hold on from there. When I crossed the line, I knew for sure I was the winner.
"It was a close race, but I felt that I was 100 miles from everybody."
In the electric atmosphere, the 22-year-old, 6-foot-1, 168-pound Gatlin clinched it in the final meter with a lean into the finish line that edged fast-closing Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, formerly of Nigeria, who was timed in 9.86.
Two-time defending Olympic champion Maurice Greene was third, another .01 back in 9.87.
Gatlin, a former University of Tennessee star and graduate of Woodham (Fla.) High School, gave the United States its 16th Olympic 100-meter title in the 108-year spread of the modern Games. Great Britain, with three winners, and Canada, with two, are the only other nations with more than one.
Tim Montgomery’s world record of 9.78, set in 2002, stayed in the books, and so did Donovan Bailey’s Olympic mark of 9.84 set in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
But this was one of the quickest mass finishes in the annals of track and field, and definitely the closest in Olympic history.
Behind Obikwelu (9.86) and Greene (9.87) was Shawn Crawford, Gatlin’s buddy and training partner in Raleigh, N.C., in a time of 9.89. Asafa Powell, the 21-year-old Jamaican who had the fastest qualifying time, was fifth in 9.94.
Crawford, the ex-Clemson star, couldn’t find his usual gear and wound up off the medals stand.
To fully appreciate the speed and closeness of Sunday’s race, consider that Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis took the world championship final last August in Paris with a time of 10.07. He ran 10 flat Sunday night and all it got him was sixth place.
With the gold medal, Gatlin claims the title of world’s fastest human.
"This is what I was born for," he said. "This is why I started running and this is why I live.
"I have to fix a few more elements in my race and then I’m ready to run 9.7 seconds."
Greene, the deposed champion, said he’s prepared to regain his title.
"It’s not over for me," he said. "This was my 54th 100 under 10 seconds, and no other man is even close to that.
"I’m going to continue running and continue fighting."
After one day off, Gatlin and Crawford come right back to open their bids for the Olympic 200-meter crown. And when that one’s done, they’ll focus on the 4x100 relay.
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