Justin Gatlin is a track and field athlete who has competed for the United States.
He competed at the 2004, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
At his first Olympics in 2004, Gatlin recorded a personal best of 9.82 to snatch the gold medal in the 100 metres dash, pipping the Portuguese favorite Francis Obikwelu and the defending champion Maurice Greene by only a hundredth of a second apart from each other. In the 200 metres, he secured the podium spot with a bronze to complete the American sweep for the first time since Los Angeles 1984. He closed out his athletics schedule by accepting the runner-up spot with the American men in the 4x100 metres relay race, succumbing the title to Great Britain by the closest margin.
Gatlin was expected to defend his 100 metres title at Beijing 2008, but the U.S. anti-doping agency imposed him a mandatory four-year suspension from the track and field in 2006 after he was tested positive for testosterone. In 2012, he overcame from a doping ban to secure a spot on the U.S. track and field team for his second Olympics in London, eight years after his first. There, he recorded a new personal best of 9.79 to claim a bronze behind the Jamaican duo of Yohan Blake and the eventual champion Usain Bolt. He also helped the American men's team successfully complete the 4x100 metres relay race with dominant baton exchanges, setting a new national record for the silver behind the Jamaicans. In May 2014, the U.S. anti-doping agency imposed a one-year suspension on Tyson Gay for a positive doping test, obliging Gatlin and the rest of his teammates to strip off their medals a year later, as formally requested by the International Olympic Committee.
Four years later in Rio de Janeiro, Gatlin commanded an early lead in the 100 metres dash until Bolt extended a massive stride at about the 40-metre mark to overcome him for another title defense by 0.08 seconds. At the age of 34, he became the oldest-ever athlete to win an Olympic medal in the history of the world's fastest outdoor race. Gatlin proved less fruitful in the remaining races of his Olympic career, as he narrowly missed the 200 metres final to be followed by a requisite disqualification of his 4x100 metres relay team for improper baton exchange outside the zone.