Justin Gatlin ruled the track last season in a very Usain Bolt-like fashion: 18 wins in 18 races.
Impressive and all, but comes with a tiny caveat: Bolt never lined up in the lane next to Gatlin last summer. The Jamaican world-record holder took time off to heal nagging injuries since there were no major meets.
Now bring on the planet’s fastest sprinter, though their first 100-metre showdown may not take place until August at the world championships in Beijing.
The wait is fine with Gatlin – builds intrigue. It also gives the 33-year-old American more time to get up to speed in the 200 as well, because he’s going after both of Bolt’s world titles.
In new shoes, too, after returning to Nike, the company that dropped him after his doping offence in 2006 led to a four-year ban.
“Usain’s obviously the gold standard,” said Gatlin, who kicks off the defence of his 100-metre Diamond League crown in Doha, Qatar, on Friday. “I can’t sit here and belittle him and say, ‘Hey man, he’s not the guy.’ Because he is the guy. He’s broken a lot of records people thought were unbreakable.”
Gatlin’s certainly not intimidated by Bolt, who’s captured gold in the 100 and 200 at the last two Olympics. After all, it was Gatlin who handed Bolt a rare loss at a meet in Rome two years ago, when he out-leaned Bolt at the finish.
“I’m aware of the talent that Bolt brings to the track and I’ll be more cautious than I have fear,” said Gatlin, who took gold at the 2004 Athens Games and bronze eight years later in London. “I know what it takes, focus-wise, to be able to say, ‘I know what I need to do to be on top’.”
Gatlin won’t run the 100 at the US championships next month in Eugene, Oregon. No reason to – being the reigning 100-metre champion of the Diamond League, he has an automatic bye into the event at worlds. That allows him to dabble in the 200, which he won at the 2005 world championships.
“I’d like to go out there and experience what it’s like to double again,” said Gatlin, a former University of Tennessee standout who trains in Florida. “I haven’t doubled in a long time.
“But that’s going to be a lot of running.”
Fast running, too.
After all, Gatlin thinks the world record in the 100 could fall in Beijing, especially with Bolt returning to form. It’s a lightning-quick track Bolt knows intimately well after breaking the record inside the Bird’s Nest during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In Germany a year later, Bolt toppled the world mark again, lowering the record to where it currently stands at 9.58 seconds.
“You have to have the mindset to say, ‘I want to run 9.5 or 9.6’ and go achieve it. You can’t say, ‘I want to get the gold just by beating the guy next to me’,” explained Gatlin, whose fastest time is 9.77, which he set last September.
To get even leaner in the off-season, Gatlin cut down on carbs, including pasta and bread. This after dropping cheeseburgers and chocolate from his diet the year before.
Simply the price to catch up to Bolt. And while Gatlin would welcome facing Bolt before world championships, he doesn’t envision a scenario where that will happen.
“When it comes to being the man, and if you feel like you’re not 100 per cent ready, you’re not going to race anybody who’s going to be a threat,” said Gatlin, who was on the US 400 relay team that beat Bolt and his Jamaican teammates at the World Relays in the Bahamas on May 2. “You’re going to race them on your terms. That’s a wise business decision.”
Recently, Bolt called out Gatlin's American teammate Tyson Gay by saying Gay's reduced ban for cooperating with investigators was "the stupidest thing I've ever heard" in an interview with Runner's World magazine published in The Times of London newspaper.
Gay received a backdated one-year suspension last year after testing positive for a steroid at nationals in 2013. He was given the reduced penalty because he provided evidence to the US Anti-Doping Agency that led to an eight-year ban for his former coach, Jon Drummond.
Although Gatlin had his own run-in with doping, Bolt didn’t admonish him. Gatlin served his time after testing positive for excessive testosterone in 2006.
“I think, in a weird way, Bolt respects that I’ve been gone for four years and was able to work hard. I’m just trying to run,” Gatlin said. “I’m coming here to run to the best of my abilities.
“For that, he hasn’t spoken out against me. I respect him for that.”
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12’) Liverpool 1 (Minamino 73’)
Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties
Man of the Match: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The specs: 2018 Ducati SuperSport S
Price, base / as tested: Dh74,900 / Dh85,900
Engine: 937cc
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox
Power: 110hp @ 9,000rpm
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Fuel economy, combined: 5.9L / 100km
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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