Alaysha Johnson thanks Justin Gatlin for addressing exclusion of hurdlers from Netflix docuseries 'Sprint'

American 100m hurdler Alaysha Johnson thanked Justin Gatlin for acknowledging the hurdlers in his recent post. This comes after Netflix snubbed the hurdlers from the second season of its track docuseries, Sprint.

A few weeks after the release of the show, Gatlin opened up about this issue in his "Ready Set Go" podcast. He remarked that the streaming giant missed out on the opportunity to showcase some inspiring journeys of some of the hurdlers in the track and field circuit.

The former Olympic gold medalist also gave a special mention to Johnson who had to curate her uniform during the 2024 US Olympics Track and field trials. Johnson took to her X (formerly Twitter) handle to react to Gatlin's tweet and thanked him for putting the matter into the limelight.

She also mentioned that there isn't a single hurdler in the circuit who can level up the Netflix docuseries. She wrote:

"Can’t name a hurdler on the line that couldn’t turn that Netflix up TBH. We all steppers in real life 🤝🏽 & we all have completely different stories! Thank you for the acknowledgment."

Alaysha Johnson had an impressive season in 2024 where she qualified for her first Olympics. She finished 7th in the finals of the 100m Hurdles event after clocking a run time of 12.93 seconds. She also clinched podium finishes at the USATF New York, USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix, and Alexis Ohanian's debut Athlos meet.

Alaysha Johnson opens up about forging a new path for other people through her journey

Johnson in blue track and field dress after qualifying for the finals of Women's 100m hurdles during the 2024 Summer Olympics (Image via: Getty Images)

Alaysha Johnson opened up about helping other people find new paths through her tough journey. This comes just a few months after she competed in her debut quadrennial event in Paris.

In an interview, Johnson stated that she wants to be the person who goes through all the struggles to help other people in their journey. She said (via Forbes):

"You can be things that are not created yet. You could be the person that has to go through things in order to help other people behind you be able to have a new path."

During the interview, Johnson also opened up about the need for an NFL-like financial structure in track and field where athletes get paid irrespective of their performance in a game.