Gatlin's CAS decision on June 6

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-30 10:24

NEW YORK - A decision regarding the ban of disgraced Olympic 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin will be issued on June 6, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said Thursday.

It made the announcement at the end of a two-day hearing before a three-man CAS panel on Gatlin's appeal against the four-year ban imposed on him in May 2006 after he tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone.

Gatlin, 26, was seeking to have the ban reduced to two years, arguing that an earlier doping violation committed in 2001 should not have been taken into consideration by the panel that imposed the four-year suspension.

Should the CAS panel agree with his appeal, Gatlin would be eligible to compete at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials starting on June 27.

The American sprinter, who has denied taking performance-enhancing drugs, said the 2001 positive test was for a medication Gatlin had taken for years for Attention Deficit Disorder.

In January, the sport's world governing body IAAF also filed an appeal against the same decision to request a life ban on Gatlin.

Gatlin was told by the IAAF in 2002 when it reinstated him from the 2001 suspension that any further positive doping test would result in a life ban.

Word on Gatlin came the same day as acclaimed athletics coach Trevor Graham was convicted in San Francisco of lying to federal agents investigating the BALCO doping scandal.

A federal jury found that Graham, former coach of Gatlin and other disgraced elite sprinters Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, lied over his relationship with Angel Heredia, a Mexican athlete who testified he sold performance-enhancing drugs to Graham and his athletes.

Triple world sprint champion Tyson Gay said he doubted Gatlin, who has not raced competitively in two years, could be a factor at the U.S. trials if ruled eligible.

"I can't say I know what he's been doing, if he's been home doing his sit ups and working out hard," Gay said at a news conference promoting Saturday's Reebok grand prix in New York.

"The work we've been putting in this year, he'd be under a lot of stress to come back and be competitive. I don't really see it."