Not long after, Gatlin suffered a hamstring injury and was forced to miss the 2003 National Championships in Palo Alto, meaning he would miss the World Championships in Paris as well. On August 15th, despite a very inconsistent few months, Gatlin finally broke ten seconds in the 100 metres for the first time, with 9.97 at the Weltklasse Zürich. In order to fully recover and prepare for next year's Olympic Games in Athens, Gatlin and his coach decided to skip the 2004 indoor season.