Promising track and field stars are often likened to the greats of the sport by coaches and the media.
However, Gatlin believes such comparisons are an issue in the sport, especially when youngsters are put alongside Bolt and Felix.
The pair won a combined 18 Olympic medals during their careers, including 15 golds.
Meanwhile, teenage Australian sprinting sensation Gout Gout has been tipped as the ‘next Bolt’ after his breakthrough last year.
Gatlin has now given his opinion on such comparisons during the latest episode of his Ready Set Go podcast.
The former USA sprinter explained: “You take these young athletes, you teach them what it is to be a professional athlete, the wins, the losses and please everybody stop saying and telling these young athletes, you’re the next great one, you’re the next [Usain Bolt], you the next [Allyson Felix] or whoever else.
“It’s the fact of they have the capabilities of doing it, they have a high percentage of doing it of being able to make their mark the same way. Let them walk their path, let them run their path.”
Gatlin won 100m gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, one of five medals he won at the Games during his career.
Those included a silver behind Bolt in the 100m in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Olympics.
The 42-year-old added: “If everything starts crumbling around them, they’re gonna be like, ‘Well wait a minute, I thought I was the next.’
“And then now the losses become so much pressure on their head and then now these young athletes fade away before they are even 20 years old. So let’s stop doing them a disservice in that way.”
Bolt and Felix are amongst the greatest track and field athletes of all-time following their own glittering careers.
The Jamaican sprint icon’s eight gold medals came across three consecutive Games between 2008 and 2016.
He also still holds the world records in each of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
As for Felix, the American won ten Olympic medals herself, with the first of which coming in 2004.
Her medal haul includes seven golds after winning the 200m in London back in 2012.
Felix was also a part of six relay wins for Team USA across the 4x100m and 4x400m events.
