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Gold Medalist Justin Gatlin reacts to the postponement of the 2020 Olympics due to COVID-19

Justin Gatlin, Olympic Gold Medalist, Team USA Track and Field, joins On The Move to discuss the delay of the 2020 Olympics due to COVID-19 and what it means for athletes.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: We've talked a lot about the effect of coronavirus on a variety of different industries. Not exempted, of course, is sports where we have seen a lot of cancellations and postponements. We most recently got the news that the Tokyo Olympics are being postponed. We're joined now to talk about that by Justin Gatlin, he is a five time Olympic medalist and on Team USA track and field, where he runs the 100 meters. He's the world champion, reigning world champion, in that event.

Justin, thank you so much for joining us. So as we get now the pushback of the Olympics, you're 38 years old. You had talked about that maybe this would have been your last competition in the Olympics. What are you doing now? And also, what are you doing, I mean, we're all figuring out how to workout. I wonder what you're doing cooped up at home?

JUSTIN GATLIN: It's hard, you know, trying to find [AUDIO OUT] where I can go to run in open fields and feeling like I'm still free. It is weird for us, because our sport is so different than the NBA, NFL. It is comprised of independent contractors. So different [AUDIO OUT] around the world still have their meets. And a lot of them hoping that the corona issue kind of dissipates until the [AUDIO OUT] gets back in [AUDIO OUT] toward the end of the year, to where they [AUDIO OUT] the sport. But [AUDIO OUT] crown jewel and not one more year.

DAN ROBERTS: Hey Justin, Dan Roberts here. Thanks for joining us. Let me just ask you, the news that the Games are being postponed for a year, at least that's a silver lining, postponement not cancellation. But obviously a year delay affects all the athletes differently. I mean, there's you. There's Allyson Felix. There are people who, you know, are of a certain age. And I don't know what another year means for you, you know.

Let us know whether that means you can still compete. But also, I imagine there are some younger athletes for whom maybe this is actually an advantage, an extra year to train. What are you hearing from most of the athletes? Is the delay of a year generally bad and unfortunate, or OK and good for some?

JUSTIN GATLIN: I mean, our body's not getting worn down from running races around the world this year. So you can be able to preserve your energy, and rest yourself, and fix the knick knack issues [INAUDIBLE] have on your body, and be ready for 2021 season. And that works for anybody, veterans and rookies.

I think what it really affects is the athletes who don't have independent contracts with a shoe company. And now they go around to these meets, and that's how they make their money. So essentially, they're not making any money this year at all. So it's a wash for them. So for our sport, that's a big issue [AUDIO OUT] a lot of athletes.

JULIE HYMAN: I wanted to ask you more about that actually, Justin. For the folks who don't yet have a contract, obviously I can't imagine there's a lot of contracts being set aside right now, as you talked about. What about for people who do have various sponsorship contracts? Are you hearing from sponsors? Are they going to keep that going for the foreseeable future? And I mean, obviously, your contract has-- contracts have a certain time period. But are there any changes that you're hearing about to those?

JUSTIN GATLIN: Yes. I mean, I heard from Nike. I've heard [AUDIO OUT] that a lot of [AUDIO OUT] using the good faith good [AUDIO OUT] to their contracts, where this year will basically be a wash. They still will pay the athletes to be athletes for them and represent their brand. And they will just pick up everything going into the next season. So hopefully, if your contract ends in 2020, that it will be crossed over into 2021.

DAN ROBERTS: Justin, Dan Roberts again here. Let me just jump off what Julie was asking about with endorsement deals and contracts. You know, whenever we are talking to athletes on our shows, and obviously right now with coronavirus, everything is different. But we always like to ask everyone about their various business interests, and endeavors, and ventures off the field, or off the court, or, in your case, off the track.

With everything going on now, how is that affecting what you're doing outside of training and outside of sport? And what are you hearing from your fellow athletes in terms of-- you know, it's sort of hard enough usually for professional athletes to work on their business ventures outside of their sport. But I imagine right now even harder. Is that something you're even thinking about? How has that changed?

JUSTIN GATLIN: Well, yeah, I dabble in the stock market. So I took a very big hit because of all this. I'm also trying to [AUDIO OUT] into the realm of being a realtor. And it's hard. It's a hard business. And I think there's not [AUDIO OUT] any easier any time [AUDIO OUT] as our economy is really taking [AUDIO OUT]. And I don't know what it's going to look like in 2021 or 2022 going forward.

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