"Please stop";"Survival of the fittest"- Fans in splits as Justin Gatlin claims that the U.S. Olympic Trials is tougher than the Olympics

Justin Gatlin recently spoke about the ongoing U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. The former Olympic medalist weighed in on the high competitiveness at the event and claimed that the U.S. Olympic Trials were much more difficult than the Olympic Games.

The U.S. Olympic trials featured some swift times and athleticism as youngsters like Quincy Wilson and Christian Miller took the track world by storm with incredible performances at such a young age. In his podcast 'Ready Set Go', Justin Gatlin spoke about the ongoing Olympic Trials.

" The Olympic Trials seem much more difficult than the Olympics itself because now, in America you're fighting against not only guys that you know that are capable of getting it done. Now, you are put in there with these ready prime college athletes," he said.

Fans were in splits about Gatlin's statement where he claimed that the U.S. Olympic trials were tougher than the Olympics. Some fans agreed to the statement, whereas some claimed that it was not an accurate claim to be made by such an experienced athlete.

"Survival of the fittest. The Olympics before the Olympics🥵,"a fan tweeted.

" Please stop," wrote another fan.

"I hate hearing this crazy nonsense, tell me how many, if any US trials meet record is better than the Olympic record? You guys will soon be calling the US trials, the Olympics or Worlds😂," another fan chimed in.

Here are some more fan reactions:

" Him of all people should know better than to say something like this," a fan wrote.

"This is an irrational sentiment especially given the fact that the podcast basically is slanted towards sprinters and the US record in the sprints since JG came on to the scene. It’s probably overall the most competitive team to make but US trials aren’t tougher than the Olympics," another fan chimed in.

"I think he means tougher for the athletes in the sense that they have to be at their absolute best to even make the team. Cut him some slack yall," another fan tweeted.

Justin Gatlin opens up on new American track talents at the Olympics

17th IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 - Day Two

Despite retiring from the sport, Justin Gatlin follows the sport very closely. He spoke about the upcoming American talent in his podcast.

"The crazy thing is America is such a revolving door. So you'll see one crazy talent leave and then the other one come into the group. You know, I mean you never, you always have to be on your game. Whereas in the UK, you can be at the top for a while," he said.

Moreover, Justin Gatlin stressed the aspect of remaining in top form to survive in the highly evolving and competitive American track circuit.