Eight-time Olympic medalist Usain Bolt was an unstoppable force during his prime. The fastest in history, besides setting world records that still stand today, messed with his opponent’s minds even before the starting gun. One of Bolt’s on-track arch rivals, Justin Gatlin, revealed how effortlessly the track and field icon impacted the mindset of elite sprinters.

You may be under the impression that every race against the legend was a calculated affair. While that was true, Gatlin revealed that in those crucial seconds before the race kicked off, it was all about taking the lead. “I was thinking like… ‘Somehow, I gotta keep this mother f***er behind me.'” Gatlin told Rodney Green on the Ready Set Go podcast. That’s because even the slightest mistake against the Jamaican would prove costly every time.

“The margin of error is so small now, bro, like, you can’t float a step. You can’t, like, have a short drive phase,” explained Justin Gatlin. American explained how every move needed to be perfect when racing Usain Bolt. Whether sprinters planned to make a faster start, hold on to the early lead, or catch Bolt later in the race, it wouldn’t work if the technique wasn’t “damn near perfect.”

That’s how Justin Gatlin defeated Bolt at the 2017 World Championships during the Jamaican’s final individual race. The American had a perfect start and didn’t let the eleven-time gold medalist snatch the lead after the 50-meter mark. However, this often wasn’t the case when Bolt was in his prime. Even when his opponents took the early lead, Bolt would surge to reel them in.

“He knew his race pattern. He knew no one could beat him and he said, ‘If I drop ’em off at 35 (meters) who gonna touch me?'” Justin Gatlin told his podcast co-host Rodney Green. However, just because Usain Bolt got the better of his opponents on the grandest stage doesn’t mean he had it easy. In fact, challengers such as Gatlin kept Lighting Bolt on his toes.

Usain Bolt pushed himself to the limit in 2012

At the 2012 London Olympics, the world witnessed Usain Bolt set an Olympic record with 9.64 on the clock. While the race was competitive until the 50-meter mark, Bolt surged as everyone’s gas tanks seemed to run low by the end of the race. However, the Jamaican legend had surprisingly tasted defeat ahead of the Olympics at the hands of Yohan Blake.

Bolt’s teammate defeated him as the world’s fastest man at the 2012 Jamaican Olympic trials. So Lightning Bolt knew he’d have to train harder than ever to emerge victorious at the Olympics. “For the next month, the work I put in to make sure, I could silence all these doubters was just unbelievable. I vomited daily because I was pushing myself to the ultimate level,” the 38-year-old revealed in the I Am Bolt documentary.

Yet Blake wasn’t the only challenger who urged the Olympic champion to train harder. Icons such as Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay, and Justin Gatlin were part of the lineup. Yet despite the perfect start, none of them could cross the finish line ahead of Usain Bolt. This is why Gatlin said it was stressful to go up against the world record holder. Bolt never faltered when it truly mattered!