Gatlin a sabotage-victim, says his controversial coach

By John Bagratuni Jul 31, 2006, 14:06 GMT

Picture dated 19 August 2005 shows Justin Gatlin from the USA winning the men\'s 100 metre race at the Golden League athletics meeting in Zurich. Behind him is compatriot Maurice Greene. US sprinter Justin Gatlin, the co-holder of the world record and world and Olympic champion in the 100 metres, announced Saturday, 29 July 2006, in a statement that he has tested positive for steroids. EPA/STEFFEN SCHMIDT

Hamburg - Some may remember Dieter Baumann's toothpaste spiked with the steroid nandrolone.

The 1992 Olympic 5,000 metres champion Baumann promised to find out who committed this act of sabotage, but neither the German runner nor investigators found an offender and he was subsequently banned in 2000 for two years for steroid abuse.

Now coach Trevor Graham has raised conspiracy theories about a massage therapist with a grudge in connection with the positive testosterone test of his sprinter Justin Gatlin, the 100m co-world record holder, world and Olympic champion.

He told the Washington Post that the person he did not want to identify rubbed a testosterone cream on Gatlin without the sprinter's knowledge before an April race where he tested positive for the steroid in Kansas.

The claim that the person in question is allegedly a former member of Graham's training camp staff was met with raised eyebrows by World Anti-Doping supremo Dick Pound and even Gatlin's attorney, Cameron Myler.

'I heard of (Graham's) comments and read them in the press - they are not authorised by us and we didn't know about them. Trevor's comments were not made with the knowledge or authorisation of either Justin or us,' Myler told the BBC late Sunday.

Pound said that Gatlin faced an uphill battle to prove the story to avoid being banned for life as a second-time offender.

'If he can find somebody who did in fact spike it that's for them (the Americans) to prove, but short of something like that he faces a very serious problem,' said Pound.

The anti-doping supremo then pointed his finger at Graham.

'Bear in mind Trevor Graham is himself being investigated by the Grand Jury because a surprising number of his athletes have been found guilty of doping offences,' Pound said.

Graham has a long list of successful athletes, but many of them have been found guilty of doping, most notably former 100m world record holder Tim Montgomery.

Montgomery was banned over the Balco laboratory affair, which was broken by Graham when he sent a syringe with the wonderdrug THG to American anti-doping authorities, not in an effort for a clean sport, but reportedly after a row with Balco head Victor Conte.

The investigation against Graham was re-opened recently on suspicion that he lied at a hearing when he said he didn't give athletes doping substances.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, the name Gatlin also appears in the Balco file. The newspaper also said it has obtained a draft letter from Conte.

'In June 2003, BALCO owner Victor Conte drafted a letter to the US Anti-Doping Agency and the international governing body for track and field detailing allegations of how Graham was doping his athletes with 'oral testosterone undeconate,' according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Chronicle.'

'In the letter, Conte writes, 'Oral testosterone undeconate will clear the body and be undetectable in urine in less than a week after discontinuing use.' At the end of the letter, Conte identified four athletes he said were using the drugs. One of those was Gatlin,' The Chronicle said.

Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) suggested on Monday that the latest case seemingly indicated that Graham had not changed his habits.

'Gatlin was caught in what was likely the anabolic buildup to a spectacular run,' the FAZ said.

The positive test came on April 22, three weeks before he equalled Asafa Powell's world record of 9.77 seconds on May 12 in Doha.