Justin Gatlin Calls for Action in Track and Field as Noah Lyles’ Message Echoes Louder

When Noah Lyles said, “Track and field as a sport is amateur. I’m a contractor,” everyone paid attention. Comments like these have made Cam Newton think deeply. Coming from a football background, the Panthers’ former quarterback has seen a structured form in the professional football sport. But according to Noah, there’s no such thing in track and field sports. Also, because of such a system, there’s no retirement plan in Noah’s sports. However, there’s another issue in the track and field sports that prompted him to speak out, and subsequently, this issue brought Justin Gatlin into the discussion. 

During his conversation with Cam Newton, Noah Lyles chuckled at the idea of unions in track and field. “Union?! We’re contractors, we can’t unionize,” the Olympic champion said with a smirk. Once again, Cam was left stunned. But that’s the reality of the sport—and Daniel Roberts has felt its harsh side. In June, Roberts opened up about his situation, revealing that despite winning a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, he had been living off prize money alone for the past six months. His former sponsor, Nike, had dropped him. Why did this happen—and what does it have to do with Justin Gatlin?

On July 8, Daniel Roberts shared a video clip on Instagram with the caption, “What do y’all think? 👀.” In the video, he made a compelling case: “Overall for the sport, I don’t know if it has to be a union, I don’t know, it has to be a certain thing to where there’s a baseline for payment for the companies, but also I think contracts should be public because they’re not now, so it’s like me being a wanted hurdler.” Was he hinting at the need for unions to protect athletes’ sponsorship deals? Possibly. To drive his point home, the 27-year-old then painted a clear picture using a real-life example—this time mentioning a fellow competitor from the track world.

Grant Holloway may have claimed victory over Daniel Roberts in the men’s 110m hurdles final at the Paris Olympics, but the two have shared years of experience on the track. Reflecting on the current state of athlete contracts, the Georgia native shared a pointed observation: “Say I was a few years younger than Grant, say he was getting paid 500,000—I don’t know how much he was getting paid—500,000 out of college. I come out, and I break all his records in college. If I know he made that much, then I know when I’m going into sponsorships and negotiations, ‘Hey, I should be getting paid no less than 500,000.’” His reasoning struck a chord and found support from none other than Justin Gatlin.

In response, the 2004 Olympic champion, Justin Gatlin, left a firm comment: “ABSOLUTELY 💯. Just one won’t work. We tried this. There are too many different thresholds and reasons for unity that may not match other countries and other cultures. I believe each country should have its union and then a governing union that oversees and works with all the country unions.”  In many ways, Gatlin’s perspective provided clarity to the conversation Noah Lyles had sparked weeks earlier. But Gatlin wasn’t the only prominent voice from the track and field world to speak on Daniel Roberts’ situation.

Not Noah Lyles, but another from track and field sports joins the discussion. 

On June 22, as Daniel Roberts’ story began spreading across the track and field community, Coach Rob didn’t hold back on his YouTube podcast. He laid it out bluntly: “Nothing happened to Daniel Roberts between winning the 110 hurdles silver medal at the Olympic Games, again the pinnacle of the sport and the moment where we find out he’s not running for Nike or at least he finds out first and then, you know, has to go out there and compete. He’s been living like going off, you know, prize money earnings, winnings, like that’s how he’s been doing it since they dropped him.” 

The emotional weight of it all truly hit home when Roberts spoke for himself. In a video posted on July 7, he addressed the reality many athletes face: in a posted video, the Olympian said, “When it comes to these brands and companies, it’s all about marketing for them. I would want it to be more about, like, oh, we want to be a part of Track & Field, we want to support these great athletes. It’s not like that, unfortunately.” His words weren’t just a reflection—they were a plea for change in a sport still struggling to take care of its own.