April 22, 2006: This date changed everything for Justin Gatlin.

The Olympic champion was hit with an eight-year ban after testing positive for a banned substance. It was the 25-year-old’s second offense and looked like the end of his career.

Gatlin had already served a ban in 2001, which he argued was due to medication for ADHD, and that suspension was later reduced. But this time, he insisted his therapist sabotaged him by massaging his legs with a testosterone cream. Regardless, the damage was done…

Watch What’s Trending Now!

Despite his continued claims of innocence in the 2006 case, the ban stood, though it was later reduced to four years on appeal.

And as Gatlin was serving a ban, one Jamaican with a broad and infectious smile started to tear up the track, and it seemed like he became the reason for Gatlin’s drive again. And Gatlin has something to say now!

By 2008, while Usain Bolt was rewriting the history books in Beijing, Gatlin was on the outside looking in.

Literally. “I remember watching him (Usain Bolt) win the Olympics in ’08 (2008), and I was sitting at a bar with some friends, and he (Usain) came across the line. Obviously, we know what he did in ’08. And I just looked up there, and I looked at my friends like ‘I want to race that guy’,” Gatlin said on Meet The Mitchells on YouTube two days ago.

After all, Bolt was doing the unthinkable, smashing the 100m world record in 9.69 seconds, then storming to gold in the 200m with 19.300. The world was in awe. And Gatlin? He wasn’t even on the track.

But that moment, watching Bolt’s triumph on TV, sparked something inside him. “And that was my journey like to get back.

Not even just to beat him. It was the fact that I wanted to stand next to him on the starting line. Because I think as a real competitor you want to like test yourself against the best, right? And that’s what really kind of like pushed me to keep going further.”

Step 1 of 8

Quiz of the day

3:00

left

In which year did Justin Gatlin defeat Usain Bolt at the World Championships, marking a significant comeback in his career?

2017

2015

2012

2013

For Gatlin, it became about owning his path and trying to write a new chapter.

“Going faster was the fact of self-accountability and saying if you want to be the best you have to show your best. That’s what I wanted to do.” The comeback wasn’t smooth, though. Gatlin chuckles, shaking his head at the memory of those first grueling months away from competition. “I was overweight […] They used to call me Fatlin when I came back in the track.”

Well, then, how did Justin Gatlin make a return after serving a ban? How did he rebuild his career post-ban?

A look back at Justin Gatlin’s career post-ban…

Join our 110K+ family of loyal track & field fans and don’t miss out on the stories that that truly matter in the world of athletics.

Justin Gatlin’s comeback at 28 wasn’t just a return—it was a reckoning.

Honestly, after a four-year ban, most people had written him off. But Gatlin wasn’t done. Not even close.

In 2010, he quietly re-entered the scene, clocking 10.24s in 100m in Estonia. Nothing flashy, but it was a spark. A few meets later, he shaved it down to 10.09 in Rovereto.

People raised their eyebrows. By 2011, he broke the 10-second barrier again, 9.95s in the Prefontaine Classic, his first sub-10 in five years in 100m. Frankly, it felt like watching a man wrestle time itself.

Then came 2012, and Gatlin turned the dial up. He snatched the World Indoor 60m title, nine years after first winning it. Outdoors, he was electric.

He stunned Powell in Doha, won the US Trials for 100m in 9.80, and grabbed Olympic bronze in London with a personal best 9.79. For a man over 30, that was blazing.

In 2013, he did the unthinkable—beat Bolt in Rome. A silver in the Moskva IAAF World Championships followed. And in 2014? Gatlin went nuclear. He ran 9.77 and 19.61 in a day. That double?

It was then the fastest 100–200 combo ever recorded. But 2017 was his biggest moment. London.

The stadium was ready to crown Bolt as the best in his farewell.

But Gatlin, 35, stormed through. He won the gold 100m and several boos. He beat Bolt finally at the World Championships!