"You would have been suspended'- Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green weigh in as Gabby Thomas' calls for lifetime ban on coaches with doping history

Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green discussed Gabby Thomas' recent statement, where she suggested a lifetime ban on coaches with doping histories, alongside athletes who are involved in the same. Thomas's stance came after she suffered back-to-back losses in 2025.

Gabby Thomas has been faltering in her form, as Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has been giving tough competition in 2025. The latter trounced her in the 100m at the Grand Slam Track Miami, and 100m and 200m in Philadelphia. The two also shared the 200m track at the USATF Championships, where Jefferson-Wooden claimed victory, leaving Thomas in third.

Shortly after, the 28-year-old made her stance clear, in favor of a lifetime ban on coaches with doping histories, seemingly taking a dig at Jefferson-Wooden's coach, Dennis Mitchell. In a recent episode of Ready Set Go, track coach Rodney Green referred to Thomas' ordeal in 2020 and how she cleared herself of violations with her lawyer's help, which was not cheap during that time.

"Whether you said it and you had the means to get one of your whereabouts thrown out, but if you didn't have the means to get a lawyer, or if you didn't have the means or any type of means that for something like that to happen to challenge, you would have been suspended. You would have been you would have felt like you've been suspended unfairly, right? But you would still have fall under the pretense of suspension... Because you had the means from back that time to get a lawyer in which you said in your video is not cheap."

Justin Gatlin sided with Green and shared that Thomas' statement was seen in a different light because she had suffered tough losses in this season, unlike 2024.

"When you look at the fact of it's the timing aspect for me, like if you said this after you won your gold in 2024, people would receive it differently. Okay, cool. She handled business. She's doing her thing, and this is what her stance is. If you would have won the World Championships in 2025, and you beat everybody at their at their best. You made this same statement, people still probably wouldn't feel what they feel right now. But I think a lot of them are like, "Wait a minute. You're coming out making very controversial statements on your own, you know, and that's what you stand by, which is cool, but the fact is, it makes it look like you're taking shots at someone." (0:49 onwards)

Gabby Thomas would sit out of the 2025 World Championships

2025 USATF Outdoor Championships - Source: Getty

Gabby Thomas was part of the gold-winning 4x100m relay team at the 2023 World Championships, besides won silver in the 200m. However, she wouldn't be present in the 2025 edition due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Gabby Thomas' third-place finish in the 200m at the USATF Championships and gold win at the Paris Games earned a qualification for the Worlds.