"Fastest, smallest sprinter in history"- Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green discuss Oblique Seville's domination in the track circuit

Oblique Seville, the 100m specialist from Jamaica, received acclaim from the legendary Justin Gatlin and track coach Rodney Green as the 'smallest, fastest sprinter in history.' The latter also shared how the story of Seville competing for his late father was heart-touching to him.

Oblique Seville had a couple of disappointing finishes in 2024 until defeating reigning World Champion Noah Lyles at the Racers Grand Prix. He then finished second behind Kishane Thompson at the Jamaican Trials and qualified in the 100m at the Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old clocked 9.81s to finish ahead of Lyles in the first semi-final heat and qualified alongside the American for the finals.

However, he failed to make a mark in the 100m finals, fading to eighth behind American sprinter Kenny Bednarek. Following the Games, Netflix released the second part of the Sprint docuseries, chronicling the journey of track athletes from the Olympic build-up races to Paris, including Seville's.

In a recent episode of the Ready Set Go podcast, track legend Justin Gatlin sat with Bahamian athlete and co-host Rodney Green, opining about the docuseries when Green pointed out a fun fact about Oblique Seville.

"One fun fact about Sprint 2, I love the story of Oblique Seville you know it was a very very heart-touching story about how he lost his father and everything else. But I really didn't know, he looks bigger on television. I didn't know he was 5'6" size and stature 5'6" that boy ran 9.80 which is crazy because of size and stature of runners of that size, he looks tiny compared to the other guys and at 5'6" 9.80 that is pound-for-pound like he probably got to be the fastest, smallest sprinter in history." (4:13)

Seville was part of the 4x100m Jamaican relay team that won the bronze at the 2023 World Championships.

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Oblique Seville talked about his encouraging father in Sprint season 2

Oblique Seville looking on at the Olympics Tokyo 2020 - (Source: Getty)

Oblique Seville lost his father, Gerald, to a bike accident on December 7, 2018, an incident that left him scarred but also pushed him to unfurl his dominance on the global stage.

In the second episode of Sprint season 2, Seville shared the story of his father's untimely passing and how his undying support meant everything to him.

"When I was growing up, my father was the one always pushing me. He was always supportive. Always supportive."

He added:

"In 2018, 7th December, he was riding his bike everyone saw him. And by the next morning I got a message that he passed away. Before he died, he said to me that 'You can do great things.'"

Seville debuted at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, reaching the semifinals stage but falling short of making a podium finish.