BEIJING, China – Shortly after grabbing his second silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, on Thursday, Justin Gatlin revealed that he is feeling tired.
The American came into these championships with the fastest times in the world over the short sprint events, but had to settle for the silver medal behind world record holder Usain Bolt in both the 100m and 200m.
After folding under the pressure in the 100m on Sunday, Gatlin struggled to keep up with Bolt in the home straight during the 200m final on Thursday – paving the way for the Jamaican to cruise across the line in a world leading time of 19.55 seconds.
The Rounds Got Me Tired
Following the race, the 33-year-old admits that he was tired from running six rounds of sprints in “a short amount of time.”
“I feel tired,” said Gatlin, who ran 19.74 seconds for the silver in the 200m. “Going through 3 100s and 3 200s in such a short amount of time, it’s taxing on the body.
“But it was an honor to come out here and raise a flag for my country. There were people from our country who weren’t able to get to the podium or to the semifinals and I had to go out there and put them on my shoulders and compete to the best of my abilities.”
Bolt Stole My Race Plan
Gatlin said the race plan going into the 200m was to attack the curve and come into the home straight ahead of Bolt.
However, that didn’t happen, as Bolt did the very same thing to get the jump on the American champion to set up the victory.
“At the end of the day, I went in there with my game plan and my coach said to me, ‘run the curve,” Gatlin continued. “Come off the curve, attack and come off the curve. Keep holding on.’
“I think he was in my window last night. (laughs) We had the same strategy and when I came off the curve, he was right there running with me.
“Coming home, I gave all I could give at this point in time. I’m going to get some rest and get ready for the relays.”
