Ankle injury no concern as Gatlin takes Pre Classic men’s 100m

By Andrew Bet

Justin Gatlin’s recovery from a bum ankle continued Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic, where he won the 100 meters in 9.88 seconds, the fastest this year for an American in the event.

With a wind-aided 2.6, the record will not count as an official time. But the time was satisfying for Gatlin as he works his way toward the U.S. Olympic Trials.

In a race featuring American Tyson Gay and Jamaican Asafa Powell, Gatlin knew he would need a good start and finish. He had previously said his preparation was important mentally, knowing what he needed to do and where his opponents might be during each segment of the race.

“I believe so,” he said, referring to his start to finish. “I got to make sure my coach says so. One thing he said is to make sure I don’t drop my hips in the middle of the race, so once I go see him and tell him what he says he might say I did a good job, he might say I dropped my hips. Still something to work on.”

With an ankle injury, Gatlin has been working on getting balance on both sides and getting his body to adjust to prevent an awkward run during the race.

“It felt good,” he said. “I’ve been working on it, making sure it’s not stiff. Everything was clicking today.”

It wasn’t clicking today for Powell, who came in second with a time of 9.94 seconds. A false start occurred before the race, but nobody was disqualified. After, he expressed displeasure about the start.

“Yeah, the mic wasn’t working,” he said. “That threw me off big time. I thought the starter would have stopped the race, but that’s how it goes. Very disappointing.”

American Tyson Gay, who came in third in 9.98 seconds, agreed. “Something funny was going on. I can’t put my finger on it,” he said. “Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t quite hear what was going on, but it’s all good.”

Powell said the confusion at the start prevented him from performing at his best and gave Gatlin the edge.

“I’m in good shape, and I’m ready to run fast,” he said. “I’m very sad that Justin got such a big jump, and it was too far for me to catch him.”

As for Gay, the race for him was to see where he was at before the trials.

“It felt all right, just training hard, training through it,” he said. “I did this race to work on some things, get some speed work in and get ready for trials.”

Gatlin felt comfortable with his performance, commanding the first 40, holding on strong and finishing the race relaxed. He said his start was second nature to him, which gave him the advantage.

With the recovery still in process, Gatlin will race in two more events before the U.S. Olympic Trials.

“I’m saying get better and better,” he said. “Once I finish these two races, go home, work on my speed work, so by the time I come back to the Olympic trials, I will be even faster.”

Andrew Bet

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