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The former Olympic champion opened up on what might have cost Kishane Thompson a win over Noah Lyles in the men's 100m race at the Paris Olympic Games.
Kishane Thompson had been tipped to reclaim Jamaica’s glory in the men’s 100m at the Olympic Games but narrowly missed the win by milliseconds.
Thompson was forced to finish second in the hotly contested race, clocking 9.79 with Noah Lyles taking the win in the race in a personal best time of 9.79. Fred Kerley completed the podium, clocking a stunning 9.81 to cross the finish line.
Following his performance, Justin Gatlin has explained what might have cost Thompson the gold medal in the race. He explained that Thompson does not usually finish the 100m race since he likes pushing his body to the 80m and then relaxing in the last 20m.
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However, going up against a stacked field in the men’s 100m final, the 2004 Olympic 100m champion explained that Thompson’s body might have struggled to come to terms with pushing himself past the 20m mark.
“Kishane has yet to finish a full 100m from what we have seen this season and I’m not saying this because I don’t want to see him finish, it’s because it actually affects your central nervous system. If you’re pushing your body to run full speed to 80m and then you shut it down and slow down to the finish line, and you’re constantly doing it, muscle memory takes control,” Gatlin said.
“And now your muscles are saying, ‘We are going to go balls to the wall 80m and then we’re going to shut it down. When you get into a shootout, when you get into a stride-for-stride to the finish line, that nervous system is not going to be kicking in for you and now you will start straining to get to the finish line,” he added.
The two-time Olympic silver medallist added that Thompson did a great job in the race but he has to polish his finishing if he has to make an impact in upcoming races.
“That’s what we kind of saw in Kishane and I don’t mean that he did a bad job or he choked. Where Noah was on the track, I feel like Kishane never saw him,” Gatlin added.
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