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Gatlin wants new, less brash image for track and field

Justin Gatlin is ecstatic after winning the gold medal. AP

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- After earning the title of world's fastest man, Justin Gatlin did something unusual.

Well, it's what he DIDN'T do after winning the Olympic 100 meters in 9.85 seconds that set him apart.

There was no strutting. No preening. No declaration that he's the king of track.

"I just want to give a good image to the sport," said Gatlin, a six time NCAA champion at the University of Tennessee. "I'm not saying that anybody's tainted the sport, but I think it's my turn to show that there's a lot of good people out there in the sport of track and field.

"I want to show that nice guys can finish first. ... I feel that I'm likable. I feel that I'm honest. I go out there and give a good race for the crowd."

He did this time, clocking a personal best in his biggest race to finish .01 ahead of Francis Obikwelu of Portugal and .02 ahead of defending champion Maurice Greene of the United States. It was the closest finish for an Olympic 100 final since the U.S.-boycotted 1980 Moscow Games.

"It felt so easy," said Gatlin, whose previous best was 9.92. "And there were a lot of technical errors. The last 10 meters, I closed my hands and was running with pumped fists. If I had run relaxed, I could've run 9.8, 9.79. So I think I still have a chance to go out there and break the world record or run faster than I did tonight."

Now that's the kind of talk expected from the Olympic champion.

Except the way Gatlin says it, he's being confident, not cocky.

Cocky is Greene getting a tattoo proclaiming himself the "greatest of all time." Or Shawn Crawford, the other American in the field, slowing down while leading a semifinal heat and turning to talk to Gatlin, his training partner, for the last 15 meters.

"That's how they do it, how they get themselves pumped up and run fast times. I hope they still do it because it's better competition when it's a faster race," Gatlin said.

He crossed the line with his mouth wide open, dropped to his knees and clasped his hands in prayer. Then he jumped into the stands as part of a victory lap around the stadium, at one point crowning a fan with his laurel wreath.

Although he was exhausted -- "I thought, 'Wow, this is harder than running the race!"' -- he felt obliged to respond to the energy he felt from the crowd.

"I just wanted to touch everybody, shake everybody's hand," he said.

The 22-year-old Gatlin was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He realized how fast he was when his friends had to use bikes to keep up with him. He moved to Pensacola, Fla., when he was 8, dominated the state scene in high school and became an NCAA champion at Tennessee.

Gatlin began taking prescription medicine to treat a form of attention deficit disorder when he was young. In 2001, an amphetamine in that medicine caused a positive test at the 2001 U.S. junior championships.

Sunday night, he made it clear he has little tolerance for the drug cheats who have jaded fans into waiting for urine tests to come back before crowning new champions.

"Everyone has a responsibility to uphold and everyone should have a little dignity for themselves," he said. "All the questions now are about drugs. ... I'd like to hear more questions about, 'What's you're next race? How do you feel?' Even if it's personal questions, I just want to try to get away from the drug question."

OK, then, getting back to the personal stuff:

Gatlin wears a diamond in his left ear and a platinum chain around his neck. His left wrist bears the yellow rubber "Live Strong" band from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

While they were created to support cancer awareness, Gatlin got it from a friend to cheer him up after he ran the 100 in 10.19 to finish last in the Prefontaine Classic.

"It reminds me to make every race count," he said.

He did at the Olympic Trials, finishing .01 behind Greene in the 100 and just behind Crawford in the 200.

Gatlin begins 200 heats on Tuesday, with the final Thursday night. He knows another victory would really kick his good-guy campaign into high gear.

"If I just stay cool and run my race in the 200, don't worry about what happened in the 100," he said, "I know I can go out there and win the gold."