FORMER American sprint star Justin Gatlin says the current crop of Jamaican male 100m sprinters could be a force to be reckoned in the coming years.

Following Usain Bolt’s retirement in 2017, there were major discussions raised about the quality of men’s sprints after years of success with Bolt, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, Michael Frater, and Nesta Carter.

Those concerns were heightened when Jamaica failed to medal in the men’s 100m and 4x100m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, as well as the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. It was the first time since 2003 that a Jamaican male missed the podium at a major championship in both events. Also, during that period only three Jamaicans ran below 10 seconds, with Blake’s 9.94 done in 2018 being the fastest time.

However, since 2022 things have looked more positive with the emergence of rising stars Oblique Seville and Ackeem Blake who have both ran sub 9.9 seconds. Rohan Watson, Kadrian Goldson, Kishane Thompson, and Ryiem Forde also rose to prominence in 2023 after impressive sub-10 clockings. Andrew Hudson, a World Athletics Championships 200m finalist, has also stated his intention to make the 100m team.

Gatlin says he is impressed at the Jamaican talent pool and that the country can reclaim its dominance on the world stage.

“One thing I’m loving about Jamaica right now is the fact that all of their top sprinters are young athletes, all within that same generation — excluding Yohan Blake,” he said on his podcast Ready Set Go. “That means that the next couple of championships — from World Championships to the next Olympics — these guys are going to mature together, they’re going to sharpen iron. They’re going to go out there at nationals, Olympic trials, and go out there and fight each other every chance they get to be the top dog of their country.”

Gatlin, who retired in 2021, says making the team for this summer’s Olympics in Paris will not be easy.

“[There’s] Yohan Blake but then, at the same time, you have a lot of these guys who have made their mark like Ackeem, Oblique, Hudson, Kishane; these guys are capable of running 9.8’s and they’ve already ran 9.8’s and still dominate,” he said. “There’s a lot of up-and-coming Jamaican runners who are probably right behind them who are going to run 9.9, 10.0, and they’re probably going to be sitting at home watching because they only can take three. When you go [to] that list, you have four already: Ackeem, Oblique, Hudson and Kishane — somebody’s not going to make that 100m Olympic team.”

Jamaica ended their seven-year 4x100m relay medal drought when they took bronze at the World Athletics Championships in 2023, behind champions USA and silver medallists Italy.

However, Gatlin says this group could constantly be in the running for gold.

“To really think about it, in the next couple of years you’re looking at Team Jamaica being a formidable 4x100m team once again for that top position,” he said. “Because, like I said, you have Kishane who has run 9.8, and Ackeem and Oblique who have showed they can be.”