Jun 27, 2008, 11:56 GMT
Washington - The Olympic dream of banned sprint champion Justin Gatlin ended on Thursday when an appeals court in Atlanta dismissed his plea for an injunction to compete at the United States trials for the Beijing Games.
The Circuit Court of Appeals said that Gatlin did not show the applicable standard for such an injunction.
Gatlin said he would not further pursue the case but may try to seek financial compensation.
Gatlin sought legal help in the US to compete at the trials after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, the highest sports authority, had confirmed a four-year doping ban against Gatlin.
The 2004 Olympic 100m champion and 2005 double world champion tested positive for testosterone in 2006 which was his second offence.
He was not banned for life because he cooperated with US authorities, and later had an eight-year ban halved.
But Gatlin wanted his first offence from 2001 rescinded. He tested positive for amphetamines, which were allegedly part of a medication he took for an attention deficit disorder.
Gatlin said that the ban violated disability laws in the US as he sought an injunction to compete at the US trials which start on the weekend.
But a federal judge said earlier this week that he had no jurisdiction over the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to rule who can take part at the trials.
Under strict US rules, Gatlin had to compete at the trials and finish in the top three in order to book a ticket to the August 8-24 Games in Beijing.
The USOC said that the case was closed because it had gone through the recognized sports authorities, a US arbitration panel and CAS.
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