Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP - Getty Images file

Justin Gatlin is the co-holder of the 100-meter world record with Jamaica's Asafa Powell.

updated 2:26 p.m. ET Aug. 2, 2006

LONDON - Sprinter Justin Gatlin isn’t the only one facing a ban in the wake of doping violations against him.

His embattled coach also could be barred from track and field if allegations against the Olympic and world champion hold up.

The focus has shifted to Trevor Graham, who trains Gatlin and has been involved with at least a half-dozen other athletes who have received drug suspensions. Track’s international governing body announced Graham could face a two-year ban if Gatlin is found guilty.

“Once we have enough evidence to prove it, then we have the power to prosecute him,” spokesman Nick Davies of the International Association of Athletics Federations said.

The IAAF isn’t the only agency considering going after Graham.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency can penalize him if it confirms Gatlin’s positive doping test. And the U.S. Olympic Committee has been on a continuing quest to find ways to sanction coaches who violate the rules, including withholding credentials to major events and barring them from training facilities.

USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said the federation would never back down on its stance that athletes are ultimately responsible for what goes into their bodies.

“That said, we believe there are others who carry significant influence with athletes who must also share in the responsibility for clean competition,” Seibel said. “Specifically, agents, coaches and trainers must also be held accountable when there is a pattern of doping positives.”

Of course, nobody has more on the line than Gatlin himself. This would be his second doping violation, which could bring with it a lifetime ban.

“I can’t say anything about this,” Gatlin said Tuesday after answering the door at his family’s home in Pensacola, Fla.

On Saturday, the co-world-record holder acknowledged that USADA informed him of a test indicating he had used testosterone or other steroids. He promised cooperation with the agency, which was formed by the USOC in 2000, but said he didn’t know how steroids got into his system.

The IAAF said it gave little credence to Graham’s claim that Gatlin was the victim of a vengeful massage therapist who rubbed testosterone cream on his legs without his knowledge.

“We have a strict liability rule that what’s in your body is your responsibility, so unless there was an independent witness who saw everything clearly, there really isn’t a possibility that there would be something in that,” Davies said.

Cameron Myler, Gatlin’s attorney, said Graham was “not speaking on behalf of Justin.”

Speaking by telephone from her office in New York, Myler said Gatlin has voluntarily withdrawn from competition until the doping issue was resolved.

She said her client’s case would be based “on the ’exceptional circumstances’ clause of the World Anti-Doping code.”

That clause allows for a lesser penalty if it can be proved that the athlete wasn’t responsible for the positive test. The exception is rarely granted.

“It’s a difficult standard, but it’s definitely something that we’re working toward,” Myler said.

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“We’re trying to reconstruct what happened in Kansas, looking at who had access to Justin to cause the positive result. Justin didn’t do anything to cause this and he didn’t authorize anyone to put anything on him that would have caused it.”

In addition to the life ban, Gatlin would lose the world 100-meter record. He equaled Jamaican Asafa Powell’s mark of 9.77 seconds in May, a month after the positive test. Gatlin would keep his Athens gold medal in the 100 and world 100 and 200 titles from 2005.

Gatlin was suspended in 2001 after testing positive for an amphetamine found in medication he was taking for attention deficit disorder. The IAAF gave him early reinstatement, but said the suspension remained on his record and he would face a life ban for any second violation.

Gatlin’s mother, Jeanette, said during a telephone interview Monday that her son was “doing as well as can be expected.”

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