Gatlin seeks arbitration hearing on dope charges

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Feb 16 (Reuters) Olympic 100 metres gold medallist Justin Gatlin has requested an arbitration hearing doping charges against him, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and Gatlin's attorney said.

The American faces a ban of up to eight years after testing positive for the male sex hormone testosterone and its precursors at a Kansas meet in April. He has denied knowingly taking any banned substance.

''When Justin Gatlin accepted a positive test and a doping offence (in August), part of the agreement was that he had the right, if he chose, to challenge only the eight-year suspension,'' Travis Tygart, USADA's senior managing director and general counsel, told Reuters in a telephone interview yesterday.

''He has given his intent to USADA before Friday's deadline that he intends to do that through the established arbitration process,'' Tygart said from Washington, D.C.

NEXT STEP Gatlin's attorney, John Collins, confirmed the American sprinter had notified USADA he plans to contest the sanction.

''This is just the next step in the process, and he looks forward to demonstrating that he never knowingly violated any anti-doping rules,'' Collins said via telephone from Chicago.

''He continues to work with anti-doping authorities in eradicating doping in sport,'' Collins added.

Collins said he did not know when the hearing would be held.

USADA rules require a hearing to be held no later than three months after an arbitration panel is selected.

Gatlin, now 25, has not competed since winning the 100 metres at the U.S. national championships in June.

He currently resides in his parents' hometown of Pensacola, Florida and continues to exercise daily, Collins said.

The 100 and 200 metres world champion and 100 metres co-world record holder has also worked out for at least two National Football League teams.

USADA announced in August that Gatlin had agreed to the accuracy of the laboratory results from his April test and had further agreed his positive test constituted a doping violation.

USADA also agreed the maximum suspension would be eight years pending the arbitration hearing.

Gatlin could have faced a lifetime ban under anti-doping rules for second offences.

But USADA said Gatlin's 2001 positive test for an amphetamine contained in a medication he had been taking for 10 years for Attention Deficit Disorder was a unique case and determined that an eight-year ban would be a just outcome.

REUTERS SAM VC1100