EUGENE, USA – American champion Justin Gatlin says the USA will be going for a clean sweep of the medals in the men’s 100m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August.
Gatlin made the comment during an interview after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials title on Sunday at Hayward Field in Eugene on Sunday.
The 2004 Athens champion ran a world-leading time of 9.80 seconds (+1.6 m/s) to win the men’s 100m title, beating World Indoor 60m champion Trayvon Bromell and Marvin Bracy to the finishing line.
“We’re gonna go 1-2-3 once again in Rio,” Gatlin predicted on NBC.
Bromell, who won a bronze medal behind Usain Bolt and Gatlin at the Beijing World Championships last summer, equalled his personal best time with 9.84 seconds, while Bracy, a former World Indoor Championships silver medallist, ran 9.98 for third place.
If the USA is going to finish 1-2-3 at the Olympics, Gatlin, Bromell and Bracy will need to get past the likes of a fit Usain Bolt, his countryman and 2011 world champion Yohan Blake, along with the in-form Jimmy Vicaut of France who has a year best of 9.86secs.
