Just seven weeks to go before the track and field world lights up for the 2025 World Athletics Championships. After Budapest hosted the show in 2023, this time the action heads to Tokyo — the heart of the Land of the Rising Sun. Organizers are expecting more than 2000 athletes from around 200 countries to show up for one of the biggest sporting spectacles out there. Team USA will be there in full force too, with stars like Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson ready to defend their world titles. But ahead of all the hype, US sprint legend Justin Gatlin has been reflecting on his own experiences traveling abroad for meets, and not all of them were great.

No, Gatlin wasn’t talking about any meet in Tokyo. Instead, he brought up a trip to Russia, though he didn’t drop the exact event name. Was it the Moscow Challenge in 2003? That’s up for guessing. But one thing’s for sure: Gatlin made it clear that the trip wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, hinting at the tough moments he faced back then.

In the latest episode of the Ready Set Go podcast, Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green caught up with another US Olympic star, Bernard Williams. The trio got talking about their experiences making phone calls while on overseas trips — and for Justin, that memory still stings. Thinking back to his trip to Russia, Gatlin recalled how he didn’t have a phone card to call back home. “I was checking out of the hotel. I didn’t get no phone card. I used the room phone. My bill was like $2,000 for just using the phone, calling back home maybe two [or] three days, bro. I was $2,000 in the hole,” he admitted. Yup, rookie Gatlin had to cough up a massive bill just to stay in touch with home. And turns out, Bernard wasn’t much better off either — he had his own share of pricey phone call struggles back in the day.

The Olympic medalist Bernard Williams was actually in the same competition as Gatlin back then — but by that time, Bernard was already an established star. Still, that didn’t save him from the same problem. In fact, his situation was even worse. Talking about it on the podcast, Bernard said, “I think I went up to, like, maybe, like, three or four thousand calling home.” That’s a serious hit to the wallet just for a few calls! So why did those calls cost them so much? 

Well, back then, ISD calls from hotel phones could drain your pockets fast. Cell phones weren’t really a thing yet for track and field athletes. In the US, a few might’ve had satellite phones, but when they traveled abroad, phone cards were the go-to way to keep call costs in check. And if you didn’t have one? You’d end up with a bill you’d never forget — just like Gatlin and Bernard did. However, that was a bizarre experience for both of them, and two decades later, they still remember it. But Justin is on his way to relive those days again. No. It isn’t about relieving the Russian experience but something else. 

Justin Gatlin has made a big announcement 

Justin Gatlin might just be gearing up for one of the coolest comebacks in track and field history. His last official race? The men’s 100m at the 2021 Kip Keino Classic, where he finished third. Since then, he’s been killing it as a track analyst — but now, at 43, he’s talking about pulling those spikes back on!

On the Ready Set Go podcast, Gatlin made it official: “I’m making an announcement right now. I’m going to start training. So we’re going to be ready for the 40-meter. We’re going to be ready for these street races against Speed. We’re going to be ready against Tyreek if he says something.” And then he dropped the mic with, “I am going to be the master of the masters.” Ambitious? Definitely. But if anyone can pull it off, it’s a five-time Olympic medalist like Gatlin. The man still holds the men’s age-35 world record in the 100m — a blazing 9.87s he ran at the 2019 Prefontaine Classic when he was 37. He’s now eyeing the age-40 world record, currently owned by Kim Collins at 9.93s.

Funny enough, Gatlin last hit 9.93s at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic — just three races before retiring. So the big question is: can he turn back the clock and find that form again? If he does, it’s going to be one hell of a story in the world of track and field.