Justin Gatlin is part of the reason why track and field is a joke now

it is rather amusing

10 years later he's somehow faster and cleaner

allegedly..

Sportman wrote:

If Bolt were on steroids he would go sub 9 and kill everybody

Except that is a totally non-violent offender.

A 4-year ban is a long ban, and encompasses OLY's and WC's. Gatlin paid a heavy price, and continues to pay, in that he doesn't get the lucrative sponsorships. Gay, Powell, Rodgers, Bolt, and Blake are the real travesties at the moment; Blake not so much because he is paying a physical, emotional, and financial price. Gatlin is more fortunate than Johnson, Montgomery, and Mullings, but he has still paid a very significant price.

In a world where things are often viewed as relative, he is in the middle of the road, between the clean and those who got a slap on the wrist, or who never got caught at all. His is not an extreme case. Heck, his times are even middle-of-the-road as far as the dopers are concerned. 9.77 is a universe away from 9.58, and 19.68 can't even sniff 19.32, 19.26, or 19.19

The guy I'm still curious about is Patton. Guy was great, then started to slide just a bit, then came out in early spring and rocked a 9.7 with a bit of wind, then disappeared. Was he clean his whole career, then tried a little bit of something and got scared by what happened and bailed? Or did he get found out, and get told to go quietly on his way? He is a guy who I believed to have been clean, I would like to hear his true story. Maybe it's nothing, but it would be nice to have that verified. I would be inclined to believe whatever he said about the matter.

You must be a quarter when a quarter had the purchasing power of today's 100 dollar bill because you make too much cents.....

Basketball is a total joke. Only a few journeymen have failed PED tests, but if you look at players back in the 70's and the various female dopers in the sprints have been more buffed than the players from that era. Doping is rife in pro sports because the leagues don't care.

Patton announced several months before that he would be retiring in 2013 even before he ran 6.50 PR indoors. After his 9.75 in a later he tore his thigh (quad or adductor) pretty bad and with the rehab lasting several months he just retired before the season really got started for him. I personally believe he was sipping on something a little different last year.

Its all very petty the name calling.

Gatlin like it or not served his time as the rules of the sport dictate. At this point unless the rules are changed in favor of lifetime bans , athletes will get caught serve their time and are allowed back into the sport. Track and Field levies far heavier suspensions than any other sport.

Gatlin is good for the sport , winning brings headlines , headlines bring visibility , visibility grows the awareness . The public is very forgiving , as examples in baseball , football , cycling ( exception with Lance ).

Anyone close to sport knows Gatlin is clean , he is tested more than any other athlete on the track circuit and under extreme scrutiny by a number of journalists trying to find a shred of evidence of drug use.

Put your money on the line wrote:

Its all very petty the name calling.

Gatlin like it or not served his time as the rules of the sport dictate. At this point unless the rules are changed in favor of lifetime bans , athletes will get caught serve their time and are allowed back into the sport. Track and Field levies far heavier suspensions than any other sport.

Gatlin is good for the sport , winning brings headlines , headlines bring visibility , visibility grows the awareness . The public is very forgiving , as examples in baseball , football , cycling ( exception with Lance ).

Anyone close to sport knows Gatlin is clean , he is tested more than any other athlete on the track circuit and under extreme scrutiny by a number of journalists trying to find a shred of evidence of drug use.

How long did it take you to stop laughing after you typed that?

Does your body look the way it did 9 years ago? Have you gotten smaller?

Your response causes a smile , another ill informed individual with little or no knowledge of the sport that forms an opinion based on assumption without a shred of evidence and fact to back it up. My evidence is simple as stated above. The sport has never been better as discouraging dopers and catching them as it is now.

[quote]Sprintgeezer wrote:

A 4-year ban is a long ban, and encompasses OLY's and WC's. Gatlin paid a heavy price, and continues to pay, in that he doesn't get the lucrative sponsorships. Gay, Powell, Rodgers, Bolt, and Blake are the real travesties at the moment; Blake not so much because he is paying a physical, emotional, and financial price. Gatlin is more fortunate than Johnson, Montgomery, and Mullings, but he has still paid a very significant price.

------------------------------

He is still doping and getting paid for it

In a world where things are often viewed as relative, he is in the middle of the road, between the clean and those who got a slap on the wrist, or who never got caught at all. His is not an extreme case. Heck, his times are even middle-of-the-road as far as the dopers are concerned. 9.77 is a universe away from 9.58, and 19.68 can't even sniff 19.32, 19.26, or 19.19

---------------------------------------

Perhaps he is not as good either way its irrelevent. They are probably doping. We know Gatlin was doping and as he is running just as fast now he is still doping.

Aside from this doping apologist the Letsrun owners have double standards when it comes to doping. Some Russian doper would for ever after be known as a 'cheat' Gay and Gatlin are being given a free pass on this

Whoa, no apologies from me for anybody.

What bothers me is a lack of honesty and integrity. I don't even really care if somebody is using--just be a man and own it. If you agree not to use, then don't.

For the record, I don't believe athletes who say they were sabotaged. Bullcrap.

Also, there is no such thing as "inadvertent use". If there's any possible question, don't, it's as simple as that.

If the IAAF and pro leagues didn't have self regulated dope testing the entire professional sports industry would die in a week. Millions of geeks at IT companies would lose their jobs. Millions of athletic trainers, writers, coaches, maintainence crews, food service workers, etc. would be let go. The fact is, pro sports relies on doping.

Do you really think the general public knows/cares anything about what's happening in track and field outside of the Olympics ?

General Publican wrote:

Do you really think the general public knows/cares anything about what's happening in track and field outside of the Olympics ?

And how much does it help, when the only news they hear about T&F is that ANOTHER sprinter has been caught doping?

Gatlin should have been given a lifetime ban. Running equally fast times now compared to when he was younger and on the juice, makes it obvious that he continues to dope.

Any meet organizers that allow him to compete should be utterly ashamed of themselves. I agree with the OP, Gatlin represents everything that is wrong with our sport and should have been banned for life.

“I look at myself as the `Batman’ of track — a vigilante. You may not like me, but I’m needed.”

it's well known that the benefits/effects of doping can last a lifetime.. look at the Eastern European women, or look how ridiculously explosive Ben Johnson still is as an old fat dude

Gatlin may not be using now but the fact remains that he still got busted

always had natural explosiveness his issue was the last 40m which was aided by doping

If Gaitlin is never found to have cheated again its pretty easy to know wazzup: he took boatloads of stuff during the period of time there was no testing during his ban and is now clean.

Not a bad strategy;>)