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Sprinter Gatlin granted hearing, restraining order by US judge
2008-06-22
PENSACOLA, Florida (AFP) - An American judge has granted a hearing for disgraced sprinter Justin Gatlin who is fighting to be allowed to compete at the upcoming United States Olympic track and field trials. Federal judge Lacey A. Collier's set the hearing for Monday in Pensacola, Florida, the Pensacola News Journal reported on Friday. Collier also issued a 10-day temporary restraining order, ahead of Monday's hearing, which may permit Gatlin to compete at the Olympic trials which begin June 27 in Eugene, Oregon. The 26-year-old Gatlin, who claims he suffers from attention deficit disorder, was banned from track and field for four years after testing positive for steroids at the Kansas Relays in 2006. He also tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2001. "The substance found in the plaintiff's system was and is clearly recognized as proper for his diagnosed condition, attention deficit disorder, and that by all accounts, it is undisputed that the plaintiff completely followed the protocol established at the time for managing his intake of medication before competing," Collier wrote in his order. After losing an appeal against a four-year doping ban before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Gatlin lodged a civil suit against the US Anti-doping Agency (USADA). His case is being based on discrimination in the workplace against handicapped people, his lawyer Joseph Zarzaur said. The sprinter's positive test for testosterone at the Kansas Relays on April 22, 2006 wiped out a 9.77-second victory in Doha three weeks later that equalled the then-world record. A January appeal to a USADA arbitration panel went against the sprinter by a 2-1 vote, prompting the appeal to CAS to have the IAAF reduce the ban, currently set to end in about two years.
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