Posted: August 18, 2005

Athletics: Gatlin On Helsinki U.S. Relay Debacle: 'we Need Discipline.'

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

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ZURICH -- The United States needs to run a tighter ship if they expect to compete well in the 400 meter relay in major competitions, said double sprint world champion Justin Gatlin.

"One thing we don't have that other countries have is discipline," said Gatlin, whose bid for a third gold medal at the recent world championships was thwarted when a botched exchange kept the U.S. quartet from advancing from the opening round. "You have egos that get in the way, people who want to run certain legs, or who feel they should be on the team when they haven't proven themselves to the point where they're reliable enough to get the stick around."

Gatlin, who raced to the Olympic 100 title and silver medal in the relay in Athens last year, was rested during the first round of the relay last week, and said he was clearly disappointed.

"I think my heart dropped to my stomach," he said. "I had this sick feeling watching it. I couldn't believe it. I was kind of in shock."

That shock has become almost painfully routine for the U.S. The Helsinki performance marked the third time in the last six world championships that the U.S. would fail to advance into the finals. This time, it was Leonard Scott who dropped the baton from lead-off runner Mardy Scales. Both were newcomers on the international stage.

"It seemed that we were prepared," Gatlin said. "We were prepared to run and prepared to get the stick around and have a great victory in the finals." But with newcomers competing in their first major competition, that "great victory" was never in the cards.

Gatlin had several suggestions for the U.S., by far the most talent-ridden sprint producing nation on the planet, to avoid the same embarrassment in the future.

"I think we need to fix some things within the staff and the athletes," Gatlin said. "I think we should take a lesson from the French and the British who have basically gotten the stick around and got it around safely. That's all we need to do. That's all we had to do: get the stick around safely and we'd be in the finals. There's no way that we should not have been in the finals."

The problem, Gatlin believes, goes further than just the typical failure to practice exchanges. Immediately following the national team selection competitions, the top four finishers in the 100 and top two in the 200 should participate in mandatory training sessions.

"Don't bring ten athletes somewhere and then four or five of them are mad because they're not on the team," Gatlin said. "And then a lot of people are very bitter about it and they're happy to see us fail. It should be cut and dry. It should be these athletes are going to run, and if anything happens, we bring in another athlete."

Not that his suggestions are even solicited by the coaching staff.

"I wouldn't say they have [asked for input]," Gatlin said, smiling, "but, I mean, I'm the one who's out on the track and I'm the one who's possible going to drop the stick or be getting the stick around. So it all falls on me and us athletes who are out there on the track. So I think that we should have more input than coaches at this point in time."

Given the unanticipated opportunity to watch the final, Gatlin said he was impressed.

"Hats off to the French," he said, referring to their winning 38.08 performance. "They did a great job. The time they ran would have gotten them the silver medal at the Olympics."

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