Justin Gatlin has long been a controversial figure in London. With that in mind, it shouldn't come as a surprise that there were boos scattered among cheers (or rather, cheers scattered among boos) when he won the 100-meter dash in London this weekend, defeating crowd favorite Usain Bolt. Gatlin, who has been banned twice for failing drug tests, came back in London to get gold, and the crowd was not afraid to speak their minds on the upset.
Gatlin said that Bolt accepted his victory with grace, and even congratulated him after the race.
Naturally, there have been mixed reactions to the crowd's mixed reaction as well.
"He is very strong and can deal with it. Only here. He only gets it here," Gatlin's father, Willie, told The Times. "The people booing need to read the reports. He has never committed a crime. They need to go and look at what was said [of Gatlin's failed tests]."
Gatlin didn't understand the boos himself, and blamed the media for dramatizing his rivalry with Usain Bolt.
"I understand why," he said. "You have black hat, white hat; good, evil, but I think it was sensationalized by the media between two people who have the utmost respect for each other."
As for the reaction itself, Gatlin said that "it leaves me scratching my head."
Gatlin has been battling doping allegations for the majority of his career, so he shouldn't be completely in the dark regarding their displeasure. Lord Coe, the President of the International Association of Athletics Federation said that Bolt being defeated was "not the perfect script." Coe took it a step further, adding "I'm not eulogistic that someone who has served two bans has walked off with one of our glittering prizes."
Gatlin was banned in 2006 for eight years, and narrowly escaped a lifetime ban. He successfully got the ban reduced to four years. Coe told The Daily Telegraph that that wasn't the ideal outcome. "There have been two bans in the past," Coe said. "One got watered down, which made it very difficult for the second ban. The second ban, we went for an eight-year ban, which would have in essence been a life ban. We lost that."
As Gatlin continues to race and make headlines, he'll likely get more hate. He doesn't seem to relish the idea of being the heel, but it may become his new normal. Defeating a sprinter as esteemed (and, frankly, likable) as Bolt in his last race will always have circumstances such as these. Perhaps with Bolt out of the sport, people will lay off Gatlin. It remains to be seen, and the 2020 games in Tokyo may be the biggest stage for him should he compete there.