Justin Gatlin Suffers Medical Issues Over Track & Field Bet Amid Tokyo Worlds: ”Calf Cramp Started”

At 43, Justin Gatlin startled the sport with a declaration on his Ready Set Go podcast two months ago. “I’m making an announcement right now on the show. I’m going to start training. It’s Sunday. I’m going to start training on Monday. So we’re going to be ready for the 40. We’re going to be ready for these street races against speed. We’re going to be ready against Tyreek if he says something.” He added with conviction, “I am going to be the master of the masters.” But now, it seems the outcome might have been far from what he predicted.

When Gatlin retired in 2022 after placing third at the Kip Keino Classic in 10.03 seconds in 2021, he left the track visibly unsatisfied. He had returned from injury and was never ruled out for another season. “Hopefully, let’s wait and see what’s in store for the new season,” he said after that race. By June 2025, he confirmed his comeback plans, targeting the masters’ world records and openly teasing races against celebrities and athletes from other sports. 

Gatlin’s ambition carried into a more personal bet. Sitting on the Tidal League podcast recently, Gatlin committed to running 400 meters inside a set time, insisting he could still meet the challenge. Last week, he fulfilled the promise but admitted that it cost him. “Hey bro, I just ran that 400. I made it. Survived. Lost the bet. Ended up, I’m here. So now y’all know I ain’t making no more bets,” he said with a mix of relief and resignation. The run left him in the emergency room, yet he managed to complete it in what he estimated was “like 50.3.” The effort, however, was far from smooth. 

“I came off that turn. First of all, when I got into the last turn, the wind smacked me, bro. I ain’t gonna lie. And then as I went into the straightaway, the calf cramp started coming in,” he explained. Despite the pain, Gatlin emphasized his determination. “I did not die. I didn’t lay down. I ain’t throw up. Got the job done, and I still got it in a moderate time. It was definitely under a minute for sure.” His longtime friend and co-host, Rodney Green, lightened the mood, saying, “Boy, that boy was power walking that last 100. Boy, y’all saw that. He was in the hover round.” 

Even in defeat, Gatlin sought to satisfy critics.

“I will also show the uncut edited version on my page as well. So I know we got a lot of people who are out there who are time Nazis. They want to see the whole start from the finish of the 400. So, I’m going to give that to y’all as well,” he promised. For an athlete who still owns the men’s age-35 world record of 9.87 seconds, set at the 2019 Prefontaine Classic, this latest chapter highlights a man unwilling to step away from competition, even if the 400 meters proved too costly a wager.

But do you remember how a few months back, in April 2025, Gatlin reflected on his career ban at 24 that left him lost and searching for direction.

Justin Gatlin recalls the dark years when a ban left him with nowhere to turn

The ban forced him away from competition during the years that are typically regarded as an athlete’s prime. Speaking with Meet The Mitchells, he recalled that period with unvarnished honesty. “I’m thinking track is my whole life, my whole world. And then everything just goes dark, you know, so I’d have nowhere to go, nowhere to turn.” For a young man who had already stood at the summit of the sport, the abrupt void left him without direction, carrying the burden of both expectation and isolation.

He described those years as a time when he had to “navigate myself through life as a regular person that didn’t have the thing that he loved the most, which was track and field.” Four years were lost from his senior career, a span during which most athletes are gathering medals and records. But Gatlin confronted the challenge of living outside the framework of his profession, forced to understand the world without the constant rhythm of lanes, times, and finishes.

When he finally returned to the track in 2010, the years away had not dulled his determination.

In 2015, he clocked a PB of 9.74s for 100 meters and 19.57s for 200 meters. And 2019 was the year when he helped Team USA make an NR at 37.10s for the 4x100m relay (IAAF World Athletics Championships, Doha).

Titles followed, but the achievements seemed almost secondary to the lesson he had carried with him. That endurance in life extended far beyond the stopwatch. For Gatlin, the memory of those days of exclusion remained sharp even nineteen years later, a reminder of the absence that once defined him and the resilience it demanded.