Justin Gatlin stood in the fifth lane and noticed the two opponents on his left and right.

Tyson Gay in the fourth lane must be no stranger to him, and at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, everyone represented the United States.

And at that time, there was a serious phenomenon of seniority in the team, Guy and Spearmon were bullied by the group represented by Morris Green, and even ran away.

And no one could have imagined that in the year and a half after his ban, Tyson Gay's rapid growth would become another leading figure in the sprint event in American track and field after him.

He had no personal vendetta with Tyson Gay and never behaved inappropriately at that World Championships in Helsinki or in the aftermath. If this year's Olympic trials go well, he may even be able to team up with Tyson Gay to form the men's 4×100m relay.

But at this moment, they appear on the same starting line, and that is the opponent.

Track and field enthusiasts across the country are wondering if it's just him Justin Gatlin who runs faster or Tyson Gay who is faster.

But in fact, he himself wants to know.

Before he left athletics, he broke the world record with Suzu at the Doha Super Grand Prix with a time of 9.75 seconds, and he also ran 9.77 seconds, tying the previous Powell world record and setting a new American men's 100m record.

But a year and a half later, Tyson Gay was born, and the world of athletics has changed.

The American men's 100m world record is no longer his 9.77 seconds, but Tyson Gay's 9.72 seconds, and the world men's 100m record has been pushed to 9.69 seconds by Su Zu.

Returning to athletics, what he needs is to prove himself and win back his image in the eyes of everyone.

It may have been a long time, but he never thought of giving up.

He wants to show the world with victory after victory that he is still one of the fastest sprinters in the world.

And this New York Grand Prix was originally just a very ordinary race, but because of Tyson Gay and his Justin Gatlin, it became a race that the whole United States and even the whole world watched together in an instant.

At another time, Justin Gatlin was suspended for a much longer period of time than this one, and when he returned to action, he ran 10.20 seconds in the men's 100m.

And by that time, Tyson Gay was already the undisputed second-fastest man in the world and the only rival to the Jamaican Lightning.

What about Gatling?

It was just a bad athlete with a stain on his back, and he would be applauded by the whole audience when he stood on the London Olympics. Even with the help of maintaining better physical condition, it was not until the end of the Jamaican Lightning career that they won against each other.

He is also lower than Guy in the national rating.

The time and space is different, a one-and-a-half-year ban is not a long time, and Justin Gatlin has had a rigorous training schedule and preparation during his time as a middle school coach.

As for Jamaica's Usain Bolt in lane 6 on the other side, Justin Gatlin already knows his opponent's impressive results at this month's Jamaica Invitational, and he also watched his opponent's performances in the 200m and 4×100m relay at last year's World Championships in Osaka.

It's a fierce rival.

But he was fearless.

Whether it is Guy or Usain Bolt, facing competitors, whether it is Morris Green in the past, or Powell and Suzu in the back, he and Justin Gatlin are all indomitable players.

He has a crazy desire to survive, and he wants to defeat all his opponents.

……

Tyson Gay stood in front of the starting line, calmly taking a sip of water.

In '04, he lost at the U.S. Olympic Trials because he didn't get hydrated in time before the competition. And now, almost the whole world knows about his habit of drinking water before the game.

He looked calm before the bout, but there was no doubt that he was the one who was the most stressed of the nine.

He will face two first-rate players in this matchup.

Usain Bolt is familiar to him, both are 200m athletes and competed at the World Championships in Osaka last year.

And after Bolt started to switch to the men's 100m like him, he didn't think much of it at first, just as he was used to the men's 200m running style that didn't particularly emphasize the starting technique, and after the men's 100m, he had to spend a lot of time changing the starting technique. He even threw himself under the banner of Jon Drummond, the gold medalist of the 2000 U.S. Relay Race, to train specifically for the start.

In the men's 100m race, especially the top races, they are the top athletes. Without good starting technique, the disadvantages are obvious. A top-notch starting skill like Powell, a top 200-meter athlete who competes with him, and the first 30 meters may be 0.1-0.2 seconds slower than Powell, or even more.

For Tyson Gay, even if he can't fully match Powell's quality at the start, at least he can't lose too much, otherwise no matter how strong his speed ability is in the middle and second half of the race, he may not be able to catch up.

Usain Bolt, on the other hand, is almost 15 centimeters taller than Tyson Gay, with long legs and a large stride, but in the 100m, where starting technique is important, this is a serious problem.

In the 200-meter race, although the difference in starting skills has an impact, it can still catch up through the middle and second half and corners, after all, the start is too strong, and the physical fitness may also decline very seriously in the middle and second half of the race.

And in the 100-meter race, where the winner is decided by 100 minutes, the starting gap is almost fatal.

But when Tyson Gay heard that Bolt had run 9.76 seconds at the Jamaica Invitational, his heart trembled slightly.

Although the American media said that the timer at Kingston National Stadium was broken, he was also skeptical.

It's often your opponents who know you best.

As Bolt's opponent in the 200m event, in the men's 200m final of the Osaka Grand Prix, Suzu was the champion, he was the runner-up, and Bolt was the third runner-up.

He combined it with his own memories of the game, and later watched the footage of that game many times.

At that time, the biggest reason for Bolt's loss to him and Suzu was not the first half, Boggart seemed to be at a disadvantage in the first half, but in fact he didn't lag too far behind. This means that the other party's starting skills are not as bad as they thought.

Moreover, when I saw Bolt again today, I clearly felt that his body was stronger and more powerful, and the muscles of his bare arms and thighs were more defined.

This game may not be easy! Tyson Gay thought silently.

But compared to Usain Bolt, after all, it is the men's 100m, not the men's 200m.

Although he attaches great importance to it, he still has enough confidence.

Even if Bolt did run a time of 9.76 seconds at the Jamaica Invitational, he would still be confident. His best time was 9.72 seconds, and after the intensive training in the time since Brauman's release from prison, he felt he should have been able to go faster!

On the contrary, it was another person, and the pressure on him was greater than ever.

Among the current men's 100m runners, it is not Suzu or Powell who can make Tyson Gay feel pressure and nervousness, but Justin Gatlin.

As long as he is an American sprinter who debuted in 03-05 and races with Justin Gatlin, there is no pressure.

Although he didn't hold a world record like Morris Green, he was the most dominant sprinter in the '03-'05 season.

After winning the championship in the 04 Olympics, he replaced Morris Green as the first sprinter in the United States.

If it weren't for Powell and Suzu, maybe Gatlin would have been crowned the world's No. 1 flyer.

Tyson Gay was a personal experience at that stage, and he was no match for either the 100m or the 200m before Gatlin's ban.

He did not compete in the men's 100m at the World Championships in Helsinki '05, but in the men's 200m, he lost to Suzu and also to Gatling.

It was a big mountain in his career, and for a long time after that, he couldn't get around Gatling's shadow.

The game was lost, and the media across the United States would compare him to Gatlin, what would have happened if Justin Gatlin had been there.

The race was won, and rightfully so, Justin Gatlin could have done better and maybe even broken the record.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, this comparison between top players is always inevitable.

That's competitive sports.

And this time at the New York Grand Prix, Gatlin almost didn't hesitate to sign up for the New York Grand Prix.

According to Tyson Gay's idea, his first meeting with Gatlin should be at the U.S. Olympic Trials, after all, at their level, unnecessary games are usually avoided as much as possible, which is a commercial consideration.

But Gatlin's head-on challenge, he could barely escape.

Whether it is from his own heart or his image, he needs to face it.

Moreover, the current Tyson Gay is no longer when he first entered the professional arena in 05, he has experienced many major events, and he has established his absolute self-confidence in the competition between Suzu and Powell.

Not to mention facing Gatling, even Su Zu, he never thought that he would fail, but has been silently sharpening his edge for this year's Beijing Olympics.

Athletes are hungry for victory, and he, Tyson Gay, is especially strong.

He wanted an Olympic gold medal, the kind he wanted from the bottom of his heart.

In another time, he lost the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and started thinking about the Winter Olympics for an Olympic medal.

And every opponent in front of him will be an obstacle to him winning the championship, and he needs to overcome them one by one.