Gatlin seeks injunction to run at US trials
June 11, 2008
Banned Olympic sprint champion Justin Gatlin filed a lawsuit in a last-ditch effort on Monday to compete at the United States Olympic athletics trials in less than three weeks.
The complaint alleges that penalising Gatlin for a 2001 doping violation, which involved medication he was taking for attention deficit disorder, violates the Americans with Disability Act.
Gatlin's lawyer, Joe Zarzaur, said they will request an injunction to allow him to compete at the trials, which begin on June 27 in Eugene, Oregon. He said he did not know when the case would be heard.
The suit was filed in US District Court in Gatlin's hometown of Pensacola, Florida.
Doping ban upheld
On Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a four-year doping ban against the reigning Olympic 100-metre champ. Gatlin asked CAS to rescind the 2001 doping violation - his first of two - which he had hoped would reduce his penalty to a two-year ban, allowing him to compete at the trials.
Instead, CAS rejected that argument and changed the start of Gatlin's ban to July 25, 2006 - the day he voluntarily accepted his provisional suspension - instead of May 25, 2006. So he wouldn't be reinstated before the trials even if his ban had been reduced from four years to two.
Zarzaur said he also would ask the court to change the dates of the doping ban.
The 26-year-old Gatlin, who insists he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs, tested positive for excessive testosterone at the Kansas Relays in 2006.
Named as defendants in the suit are the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), USA Track and Field (USATF), the US Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer said the federation had to review the suit before commenting.
Another potential roadblock is jurisdiction. CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said on Friday the only legal option he knew of for Gatlin was to go before the Swiss Federal Tribunal, an appeal provided by Swiss law because CAS is based in Switzerland....
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
