Atlanta – Suspended sprinter Justin Gatlin will appeal a possible eight-year doping ban today, an attempt by the Olympic gold medalist to become eligible for the 2008 Beijing Games.
The sprinter’s lawyers will make the case in Atlanta, almost a year after he and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency reached an unusual compromise.
Gatlin shares the 100-meter world record of 9.77 seconds, though that would be erased if his doping penalty becomes official. At the 2004 Olympics, Gatlin won the gold medal in the 100, then won the 100 and 200 at the world championships a year later.
Gatlin tested positive for testosterone and other steroids at the Kansas Relays in April 2006. That test was his second positive doping test, which usually triggers a lifetime ban.
But in an agreement with the USADA, Gatlin accepted positive test results for testosterone and other steroids but was given the right to seek a further reduction in the ban. He cannot argue, however, that the test was faulty.
Gatlin would be 32 in 2014, the year he would be eligible to return to the sport under the current ban. If it stands, it likely will end his track career.
Gatlin’s first doping offense occurred when he was at the University of Tennessee. He stopped taking medicine to treat attention-deficit disorder a few days before a competition, but it didn’t clear his system, according to the case records. He received a two-year ban for that test, which was reduced by a year because of the “exceptional circumstances” of the offense.
After testing positive last April, Gatlin said he didn’t know how steroids got into his system.
SOCCER
Mahmoud lifts Iraq to Asian Cup title
Iraq won the Asian Cup for the first time, a beacon of hope for a nation divided by war.
Iraq’s 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on a 71st-minute header by captain Younis Mahmoud in Jakarta, Indonesia, was an inspirational triumph for a team whose players straddle bitter and violent ethnic divides.
Mahmoud said he will not return to Iraq to celebrate.
“I don’t want the Iraqi people to be angry with me,” he said. “If I go back with the team, anybody could kill me or try to hurt me.”
Iraq, whose only World Cup appearance was in 1986, dominated the Saudis, three-time Asian Cup champions. Iraq joins the United States, Brazil, Italy and host South Africa at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup along with the champions of Europe, Africa and Oceania.
Iraq coach Jorvan Vieira, who is Brazilian, resigned after the game.
“I have worked my best to give happiness to the Iraqi people, to bring a warm smile to their lips, and my mission is accomplished,” Vieira said. “The satisfaction is doubled when you can get this cup and you bring happiness for a country, not just a team. It’s more important than anything.”
In MLS action, Yura Movsisyan scored in the 89th minute to give the Kansas City Wizards a 3-2 win over visiting Chivas USA (8-6-3).
Chivas tied it at 2 in the 54th minute when John Cunliffe scored a minute after Davy Arnaud’s free kick for the Wizards (8-5-5), who remained a point back of New England in the Eastern Conference.
Making his MLS debut, Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco set up Ivan Guerrero for the game’s first goal, leading the Chicago Fire over host Toronto FC 3-0, in a matchup of last-place teams in the East.
HORSE RACING
Street Sense prevails in Jim Dandy
Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense began his second season with a first-rate performance, pulling away in the stretch and winning the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
In his first race since finishing second in the Preakness Stakes more than two months ago, Street Sense had more than enough in reserve to overtake C P West in the stretch for a 1 1/2-length victory.
Street Sense covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.88 in his first race in 71 days, and earned $300,000 to boost his bankroll to $3.4 million for owner James Tafel.
Michael Baze, the leading rider at Del Mar, was unseated when his mount broke down nearing the finish line in Del Mar, Calif.
Lyrical Sound, a 4-year-old filly, had to be destroyed and Baze was taken to a hospital for precautionary X-rays of his upper left leg, which were negative.
FOOTNOTES
U.S. duo best in beach volleyball
Fourth-seeded Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser defeated Russians Dmitri Barsuk and Igor Kolodinski 21-16, 21-14 to give the United States a gold-medal sweep at the beach volleyball world championships in Gstaad, Switzerland.
It marked the first major win of the season for Dalhausser and Rogers, who pocketed $81,906.
Dalhausser and Rogers also collected 1,000 points toward qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. A duo’s best eight finishes on the World Tour until July 20, 2008, will count toward qualifying for the 24-team Olympic field.
Peter Thliveros became the first two-time winner of the Bassmaster Memorial with a 2-ounce victory over Steve Kennedy on Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, N.Y.
Thliveros, of Jacksonville Fla., had a final-day limit of 18 pounds, 3 ounces for a total of 39 pounds after the final two days on Onondaga.
Kennedy lost because one fish in his five-fish limit was dead. It cost him a 4-ounce penalty and he had to settle for the $32,500 second prize instead of the top prize of $250,000 that went to Thliveros.
