Justin Gatlin Does Not Want to Talk About His Drug Past and Things Gets A Little Testy With LRC’s Wejo

by: LetsRun.com
May 29, 2015

Eugene, Oregon – Justin Gatlin and LetsRun.com Weldon Johnson (Wejo) got into a testy exchange today at the 2015 Pre Classic press conference about Gatlin’s doping suspension.

The talk turned to doping when a foreign journalist asked Gatlin about a study with mice that showed the effects of doping could linger well after the doping stopped. Gatlin was asked what he thought about the study.

Gatlin said, “I think it’s ridiculous. My situation was 2006 – that was a decade ago… they need to go and see what is happening in the medical world, don’t come to me with that. A lot of people have been in the same situation I have been in….I’m not sure why you would match a laboratory mouse to a human being, that’s unfathomable to me.”

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LRC’s Weldon Johnson then jumped in to try and follow up with a doping question he asked Gatlin and teammate Tyson Gay at the World Relays in the Bahamas.  At World Relays, Weldon asked Gay and Gatlin, “What do you have to say to some youngster in America that you can compete clean, because at some point you both decided you couldn’t. So how do you assure people you are competing clean now?” When the question was asked at the World Relays press conference, Gay answered it and then the press conference moved onto the next question, but Gatlin had initially tried to grab the microphone to answer it.

Weldon brought up the question from the World Relays with Gatlin here to see if he wanted to answer it and that is when things got a bit testy. We’ve highlighted some of the exchange below. You can watch the full video at the bottom.

Gatlin: I think Tyson covered that question. There is no more commentary. I said everything I had to say on that. There is no commentary. You can read all the articles.

Wejo: Will you admit to taking performance enhancing drugs?

Justin Gatlin Doesn't Want to Talk About the Past Justin Gatlin Doesn’t Want to Talk About the Past

Gatlin: There is no admitting to it… If you are a history major you can go back in the archives and read those articles.

Wejo asked if Gatlin was sticking to his story that masseuse Chris Whetstine sabotaged him.

Gatlin: Why do I need to change it?… Why are you asking these questions that happened a decade ago?

Wejo: Because a lot of people don’t believe your story.

Gatlin: Are you a history major?

Wejo:  I was a history major actually.

Gatlin:  Good maybe you should go do that in a museum or something.

Talked then turned to whether Usain Bolt would be afraid to line up against Gatlin right now.

Video set to start with drug exchange below:

 

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