He walked along an iron barrier near the warmup area behind the grandstand at Hayward Field. A friend approached from inside and snatched up Gatlin in a long embrace, chiropractor Dr.
David Pascal. Then another friend did the same, former U. Olympic coach George Williams. Tears formed in Gatlin's eyes and then rolled down his cheeks, and not for the first time on this evening. Here then, was an end for Gatlin. Or was it his beginning? It is so hard to know, because surely this was a night -- and a performance -- unlike any other in the history of American track and field.
At shortly past in Oregon, Gatlin had finished second to Walter Dix in the meters at the USA Track and Field national championships a race lacking Tyson Gay, who withdrew from the meet with ongoing hip problems , earning a place on the U. Long before this, Gatlin had been an Olympic gold medalist at the age of 22, winning the Athens meters in He had been a double world champion a year later, winning both the and in Helsinki.
And in , he had broken the world record in the meters. He had also been the smiling, accommodating face of track and field, an engaging young man doing everything right in a sport where so often people do everything wrong.
Then in Gatlin tested positive for testosterone or its precursors. He would maintain that he was sabotaged by a massage therapist with a grudge who rubbed illegal cream into his legs before a meet, but he would also admit that the substance was in his body and accepted a four-year ban that ended in It seemed unthinkable that he would ever again run fast or represent the United States in international competition.
