100-metre record-holder Gatlin positive for steroids (Roundup)

Jul 30, 2006, 3:03 GMT

Picture dated 12 May 2006 shows US sprinter Justin Gatlin crossing the finish line to set a new 100 metres world record with a time of 9.76 seconds at the Qatar Super Grand Prix in Doha. Justin Gatlin, the co-holder of the world record and world and Olympic champion in the 100 metres, announced Saturday, 29 July 2006, that he has tested positive for steroids. EPA/-

New York - US sprinter Justin Gatlin, reigning world and Olympic champion in the 100 metres and co-holder of the world record in the event, announced Saturday that he has tested positive for steroids.

He said that the United States Anti-doping Agency notified him of a positive result for 'testosterone or its precursors' from a sample Gatlin gave following his competition in a relay on April 22 in Kansas City, Missouri.

'I cannot account for these results, because I have never knowingly used any banned substance or authorized anyone else to administer such a substance to me,' Gatlin said in a statement.

He said that he was 'doing everything in my power to find out what caused this to happen.'

Gatlin promised to 'continue to cooperate fully' with the anti- doping investigation. He expressed the hope that 'when all the facts are revealed it will be determined that I have done nothing wrong.'

At the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Gatlin won the 100m gold in the second fastest Olympic time ever, defeating defending champion Maurice Greene in the same race. In the 200 metres, he earned bronze as US runners swept the medals at that distance. Gatlin also got silver in Greece with the US four-by-100-metre relay.

He won 100m gold at last year's World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

On May 12 in Doha, Qatar, Gatlin equalled the 100m world record of 9.77 seconds, held by Jamaican runner Asafa Powell.

Gatlin has a previous doping infraction, having been banned from international competition for two years in 2001 after a positive test for amphetamines.

He blamed the stimulant medication he had taken since childhood for attention-deficit disorder. Gatlin appealed the suspension and was given an early reinstatement in July 2002 by athletics governing body IAAF, which warned at the time that another doping infraction would bring a lifetime ban.