Kristi, I’m more of a distance runner but I grew up watching Usain and Asafa dominate in sprints. Even though Asafa Powell wasn’t dominating the 100 since Bolt game onto the scene, he still always anchored the 4x100 and was crucial to Jamaica’s relays at the world stage. I think it’s important to also note that part of what truncated Powell’s career was getting caught with PEDs. Justin Gatlin made a successful comeback after his suspension, but I haven’t seen Asafa Powell’s name too prominent on the world stage.

It’s a great lesson for us, though, and I like to write similar articles about distance runners like Eliud Kipchoge, Hicham El Guerrouj, and Sammy Wanjiru. I love the stories of the really resilient great athletes that come back after setbacks, like Mo Farah after the first half of his professional career was marred by failure, or like Gatlin after the PEDs episode, or Josh Gordon and his quiet comeback after years and years of struggling with addiction.

Great article, Kristi!