Gatlin Is Double Quick at U.S. Championships

In one weekend, Justin Gatlin overcame more obstacles than a squad of hurdlers.

The 23-year-old sprinter sank to emotional depths Friday when he thought he’d false-started out of the 100-meter preliminaries, but soared to new heights Sunday when he became the first man to win the 100- and 200-meter titles at the U.S. championships since Kirk Baptiste in 1985.

“Coming into this season, I had a spark of inspiration to not just squeak by, but to come out and be competitive in all my races,” said Gatlin, who won gold at Athens in the 100, silver in the 400 relay and bronze in the 200.

“It came from a lot of people. I can honestly say it came from knowing what I did at the Olympics and that nobody thought I was going to win. It was a wake-up call. ‘Why is anybody doubting me?’ ”

There can be no reason to doubt him after he closed the U.S. championships with a flourish, winning the 200 in 20.04 seconds.

Gatlin didn’t run a world-leading time, as Kerron Clement did with a 47.24 in the 400 hurdles, Allyson Felix accomplished in winning the 200 in 22.13, and Michelle Perry achieved with a 12.43 in the semifinals of the 100 hurdles. But he thrilled the announced crowd of 9,802 at the Home Depot Center and duplicated the success he enjoyed in the 100 final Saturday.

Gatlin endured cramps in his arms and thighs after the 100 but recovered impressively on a hot day to complete his double.

He won his 200 semifinal heat in 20.34 before turning on his characteristic late speed to win the final ahead of Tyson Gay (20.06) and training partner Shawn Crawford, who steamed out of Lane 9 and ignored problems in both feet to grab third in 20.12.

“I feel like I’m back in my zone, like I was in college,” Gatlin said. “Doubling and hopefully dominating the field, as well.”

If he’s back in school, he’s king of the prom -- and Felix is the queen.

Felix, who accompanied Gatlin to last year’s Emmy Awards and called him “my sidekick,” won her second consecutive 200 title, powering past Rachelle Smith (22.22) and LaTasha Colander (22.34). Me’Lisa Barber, the 100 champion, was fourth in 22.37.

Felix has run one faster time, 22.11 in Mexico City in 2003, but that mark wasn’t ratified by the International Assn. of Athletics Federations because the meet had no drug-testing procedures. There was no question about her performance Sunday.

“I normally have trouble with the first part of my race, so I wanted to attack and come out strong,” said Felix, who left her coach, Pat Connolly, after she won silver in the 200 at Athens and began working with Bob Kersee last autumn.

“My training now is more focused on strength. We haven’t gotten to speed yet.”

Felix said she and Gatlin are “really close and we’re always there to support each other,” although he trains in Raleigh, N.C., and she is in Los Angeles. She was at his side Friday, when he thought his quest for the U.S. 100 title -- and a rematch with Jamaican sensation Asafa Powell -- would be lost to a disqualification.

Gatlin said he grew emotional when he saw her and struggled to maintain his composure for his sake and hers.

“I was just talking to her about my dreams of being a world champion and becoming the best in the world at what I do,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, but we’re very compatible within the jobs that we do. She came out of high school and looked to me for advice and guidance. I helped her along and she helped me stay poised.”

The leaders in the women’s hurdles had to maintain their poise Sunday under trying circumstances. Perry, in Lane 5 in the final, bumped arms and bodies with Olympic gold medalist Joanna Hayes in Lane 4 at about the sixth or seventh hurdle. Neither could remember exactly when the contact occurred, but both felt it and each fought to maintain her rhythm.

They succeeded in splendid fashion. Perry, who finished 14th in the heptathlon at Athens but has competed only in the 100 hurdles this season, won in 12.66, just ahead of fellow UCLA alumna Hayes (12.77) and USC junior Virginia Powell (12.87).

Powell, who won the NCAA title earlier this month was the early leader -- “She got out like crazy,” Hayes said -- but Perry persevered.

“I don’t know if I hit her or she hit me,” Perry said of her contact with Hayes. “I felt it a little bit, but I’ve been in enough races and hit enough hurdles to know you can’t let something like that bother you.”

Powell said she nicked “a couple” of hurdles. “At the end, I was just fighting and leaning,” she said.

And winning a place on a U.S. team that figures to be strong in the sprints and hurdles at the world championships, Aug. 6 to 14 in Helsinki, Finland.