American sprint legend reveals what Kishane Thompson must do to match Noah Lyles’ greatness

Justin Gatlin reveals what Kishane Thompson must do to match Noah Lyles’ greatness Image source: Imago

American sprint legend reveals what Kishane Thompson must do to match Noah Lyles’ greatness

Abigael Wafula 06:08 - 22.01.2025

The 2004 Olympic champion has shared key advice for Kishane Thompson to reach the level of elite sprinters like Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo and others.

The 2004 Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin has shared wise counsel with Kishane Thompson, Ferdinand Omanyala and other 100m runners on what they need to do in order to be great.

The American sprint legend insisted that they ought to incorporate the 200m in their roaster to as to match up with the likes of Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, Kenny Bednarek, Letsile Tebogo and Oblique Seville.

Gatlin explained that an athlete who can only compete in the 100m is not as formidable enough to compare with the sprinters who can do both distances and insisted that it is something people want to see them do.

Kishane Thompson has been running the 100m only but he revealed plans to incorporate the 200m in his schedule but never gave a specific timeline.

The Olympic 100m silver medallist has proven to be one of the best after a short period of time but Gatlin believes that without the 200m, he is still lacking.

On his part, Ferdinand Omanyala is also a pure 100m runner and he has raced the 200m sparingly, not professionally. Gatlin also challenged the Kenyan sprinter to embrace the 200m.

“A guy who runs the 100m has no chance against a guy who has the lungs to run a 200m at elite level, I think he can come down and run the 100m,” Justin Gatlin said in an interview with Run Your Race podcast.

The legendary American sprinter added that youngsters are slowly coming up and at the moment, the world does not care about the current athletes, with the constant question being, ‘Who’s next?’

He pointed out Quincy Wilson, revealing that the 400m runner has already established himself and is running fast times at the age of 17. He also highlighted Letsile Tebogo as one of the stars coming to take the world of track and field by storm.

The 21-year-old has already proven his potential and Justin Gatlin believes that it was just the start of his illustrious career, comparing him to the fastest man alive, Usain Bolt.

“You have young athletes coming up like there’s a high schooler who runs the 400m, his name is Quincy Wilson and the times he’s running right now, he’s beating the professionals,” Gatlin added.

“The sport is growing much younger and younger just like gymnastics and these youngsters are taking up the sport by storm and they are really loved by many. Letsile Tebogo is also coming up and I’d say he is a compact form of Usain Bolt.”

He further explained that nowadays, persona is everything in track and field and athletes should also look to make their profiles interesting beyond their performance on the track.

With the emergence of social media, Justin Gatlin urged athletes to follow in the footsteps of Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson to make sure they are earning more income through endorsements and brand deals and not just from competitions.

“You want to show who you are as a character because that is going to win the crowd. People want to see you run. They know you can be fast, they know you’re fast but are you entertaining? That’s what people are looking for,” he shared.

“Social media has given these athletes the tools to be able to reach out to Maybelline and colognes and car companies and be able to get other sponsors outside of shoe sponsors to be able to make and sustain themselves better.”

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