Former Olympic gold medalist Justin Gatlin announces his retirement

Justin Gatlin took to his Instragram account to announce his retirement from track and field on his 40th birthday.

“Dear Track.”

“I have loved you track. You gave me tears of sadness and of joy, lessons learned that will never be forgotten,”

“The torch is passed but the love will never fade. On your mark, get set … Gone!”

The Athens 2004 Olympic gold medalist has had a colorful and controversial career in track and field.

Gatlin won Olympic gold in the 100 meters in Athens, and also picked up a silver in the 4x100m relay and a bronze medal in the 200m. Soon after his Olympic glory in Athens, he served a four-year suspension from 2006-2010 for testing positive for testosterone.

He had been suspended previously at the University of Tennessee in 2001, when traces of Adderall were found in his test, but the U.S. arbitration panel that heard his case ruled Gatlin was “certainly not a doper.”

Despite his lengthy suspension, he was still able to win 100m Olympic bronze in London along with the World Indoor 60m gold medal in 2012 in Istanbul.

In 2015, Gatlin became the only man ever to run below 9.80 seconds in the 100m on five separate occasions in one season.

His duels with Usain Bolt were made-for-TV drama as the two traded wins throughout their careers. Gatlin came up short against Bolt at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships.

However, he bested Bolt in the 2017 World Championships after narrowly losing to him the year before at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

His attempt to become the oldest man to win a 100m medal at an Olympics fell short when he injured his hamstring during trials in the run up to the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Throughout his career, Gatlin won 17 international medals, including relays and seven major titles.