"Something deeper than what we see on the track" - Justin Gatlin gives his verdict on Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek's feud at USATF Championships

Former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin shared his opinion on the recent feud between Olympic champion sprinter Noah Lyles and Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek. The two sprinters were involved in an altercation just after the men's 200m finals at the USATF Outdoor Championships held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Gatlin discussed the incident with his podcast partner and former Olympian Rodney Green on their channel 'Ready Set Go'. During the discussion, they talked about what provoked an argument between the two.

Justin Gatlin observed that even though Kenny Bednarek had shoved Lyles just after the race, he realized the consequences quickly. In his words,

"You see how quickly that Kenny kind of like checked him his own self. He realized within the push and then Noah turned around like, 'Hey, wassup?' What we doing here? What's going on?' Kenny was like, 'Hey, I apologize, I didn't mean to come out and push you, but we got to talk later.' And that's when Noah's like, 'I expect my apology.' So that lets you know at the end of the day, there's something deeper than what we see on the track." [1:17:00 onwards]

Noah Lyles won the 200m race with a new seasonal best of 19.63 seconds. Kenny Bednarek finished a close second with a timing of 19.67 seconds.

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When Justin Gatlin shared his thoughts over Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's new move for USATF Nationals

Justin Gatlin talks about Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's new move for USATF Nationals [Image Source : Getty]

Previously, Justin Gatlin shared his thoughts on Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's latest move ahead of the USATF Nationals. In his conversation with Rodney Green on another podcast session of 'Ready Set Go', Gatlin admired McLaughlin-Levrone for daring to take the risk in women's 400m, instead of her iconic event of 400m hurdles.

"You got to realize that track comes with different pressures. Leading into the National or Big Championships and everyone is counting on you, everyone wants to see you win, everyone wants to see you break a record, that's what Sydney's at because she has done it so much in the 400m hurdles, she has dominated for so long, that's all we know. We always want her to win. But now she is going into a different event where to win that race, commands respect. It's a whole different beast," Gatlin remarked. (1:02:38 onwards)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone qualified for the World Championships in style by winning the women's 400m event. She clocked a seasonal best timing of 48.90 seconds, clearly ahead of Isabella Whittaker, who came second with 49.59 seconds, followed by Aaliyah Butler, who came third with 49.91 seconds.