Gatlin’s arbitration hearing underway
Olympic gold medalist hopes to become eligible for 2008 Beijing Games
 Rusty Kennedy / AP Justin Gatlin will appeal an eight-year doping ban Monday in an attempt to become eligible for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. |
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ATLANTA - Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin needs extra time to appeal a possible eight-year ban for doping.
Testimony will continue Wednesday by telephone, according to a person familiar with the arbitration hearing who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.
A decision in the case is not expected for at least a week.
Gatlin tested positive for testosterone and other steroids in April 2006 but has said he doesn’t know how steroids got into his system.
He and his attorney, John Collins, declined comment following Tuesday’s hearing, which was closed to media and the public.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has never lost a doping case, but the person close to the case said rules allow for a reduction in penalties for an athlete who has an “unprecedented” record of cooperating with investigations.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Gatlin said he met with Jeff Novitzky, the lead investigator in the BALCO steroid investigation, and made calls, including at least one in Novitzky’s presence, to his coach Trevor Graham.
Graham, contacted by The Associated Press on Monday, had no comment. He was indicted by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative grand jury last fall on charges of lying to federal investigators.
Graham’s conduct also has been discussed during the hearing, the person said.
Graham has accused Oregon massage therapist Chris Whetstine of rubbing a steroid cream on Gatlin to trigger the positive test, but Whetstine has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The arbitration hearing for Gatlin, expected to last only two days, followed an unusual compromise with USADA.
The 2006 test was the second positive test for Gatlin, the 100-meter gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, and could have brought a lifetime ban. But in an agreement with USADA, Gatlin accepted the positive test results but was given the right to seek a further reduction in the ban. He cannot argue, however, that the test was faulty.
Gatlin’s first offense occurred when he attended the University of Tennessee. He stopped taking medicine to treat attention-deficit disorder a few days before a competition, but according to the case records the medicine did not clear his system.
The two-year ban for that first offense was reduced to one year due to the “exceptional circumstances” of the incident.
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