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Lead Stories: Saturday, September 6, 2008

Track & Field: Weekly Preview

Posted January 26th, 2008 at 10:30 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

With three major international invitationals set for this weekend –Saturday’s Reebok Boston Indoor Games, Saturday’s Norwich Union International in Glasgow, and the Russian Winter meet in Moscow on Sunday– TPR begins its peak-season weekly previews. Some of the expected key highlights:

In the Sprints…

Thus far in 2008 the major news in the sprints has been off the track, beginning with the New Year’s Day announcement by the US Anti-Doping Agency that Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin would have to sit out a four-year ban. (How’s that for setting the tone for the year?) Gatlin is appealing the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. [For a recent interview Gatlin gave Reuters, please click here]

The most solid field of the weekend will be in Boston, where reigning world indoor champion Leonard Scott makes his ‘08 debut. Reigning US indoor champion DaBryan Blanton, and Leroy Dixon [Pictured], a 400m relay gold medallist last summer in Osaka, are also in the field.
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Gatlin Doping Ban Reduced to 4 Years; Ineligible for 2008 Olympic Title Defense

Posted January 1st, 2008 at 3:03 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

Earlier today The Washington Post reported that American sprinter Justin Gatlin’s doping ban had been reduced by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to four years.

Although the 25-year old sprinter had originally faced a possible eight-year ban, the reduction will not be enough to make him eligible to defend his Olympic 100m gold medal in Beijing.

The USADA announced that the ban, which had been reduced as a result of Gatlin’s help with the federal investigation of former coach Trevor Graham, will expire on May 24, 2010. Gatlin needed the ban reduced to two years in order to compete in the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials this June in Eugene, OR.

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