Disrespecting Gatlin

totally agree. really annoys the hell out of me

Ditto.

He served his time. We don't have life-time bans yet.

That term "drug cheat" is haunting. The White collar criminals go to Club Fed and then come out exonerated, no one paints them with such harsh brush strokes. I praise Gatlin for standing tall.

I have tremendous respect for Justin. As someone with ADHD who can't function properly without Adderrall, he just stopped taking it because he was ridiculously sanctioned for taking it even though he wasn't doing so to gain a competitive advantage and wouldn't likely give him one anyway.

Factt wrote:

All of the disrespect for Justin Gatlin is disgusting. Prefacing all of his achievements (or any returning doper's for that matter) with "drug cheat" is gross. The man was railroaded by having to serve double the suspension that an athlete would normally, cooperated and has come back. In a land of forgiveness and second chances, I think Justin Gatlin deserves is exactly the same courtesy you show to Dick Beardsley, who is never prefaced with the fact that he's a convicted felon and recovering drug addict.

Of course being convicted of a felony isn't going to make you run faster.

Agreed. Served his ban. Let it go brojos.

LetsRun says it will only respect drug cheaters who tell the truth and serve their time.

If he had come clean like Chambers, it would be different. Instead he looks like a liar as well as a thief.

Who wasn't doping then? How come times are faster now than they have ever been?

Dr. Know wrote:

LetsRun says it will only respect drug cheaters who tell the truth and serve their time.

Have you not learned by now what coaches, elite athletes, and such think of letsrun? See Salazar, Running Times, German Fernandez, Dave Smith, Ryan Hall... Being respected by letsrun likely has a negative connotation in track and field.

Facts are Facts. He doped, he allowed someone into his camp that pushed PED's.

Now, did he know about this or not who knows, but the fact is after all the BALCO fallout and Barry Bonds etc, AND after testing positive once already albeit not for PED reasons he made this mistake. Either he is mentally handicaped or he knowingly doped. Thats the situation.

Was he punished too hard? Maybe. But its hard to argue his case when he's not innocent. Just like Trayvon or Zimmerman.

Yes its that simple and isn't. He doped, made the same mistake twice, and now he's running again and he also got to keep his Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. He is very lucky he got even this.

So don't go arguing that the gatlin is bein' disrespected.

I think the whole "drug cheat" label is way out of line. Regardless of if he did it intentionally or not, he served his time, and is now trying to make a comeback and fix his life. Start over fresh. What if someone just got out of jail and just wanted to start over and live a good life? Get a good job, go to school, etc. Would you call them "ex convict so and so" and s**t on them every chance you get? Maybe, but you would also be a huge douche, so who cares what you think anyways.

I have to be honest I don't care if he cheated or not. So many of them get away with it so the hell with it.

I would agree that after serving a four year ban he should be referred to as a former drug cheat ONLY if he publicly admitted his cheating.

After that a second positive test would be a lifetime ban.

Avante wrote:

I have to be honest I don't care if he cheated or not. So many of them get away with it so the hell with it.

I subscribe.

My beef with Gatlin is he still denies taking drugs.

He was coached by Trevor Graham. Graham was at the center of the Balco scandal and just about everyone of his other famous athletes tested positive. List here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Graham

So Gatlin tests positive. Graham then claimed that therapist Chris Whetstine sabotaged Gatlin.

Now, I am presented with two theories: 1) Gatlin doped like nearly everyone else under his coach or 2) He was sabotaged or perhaps 3) He was secretly doped all along.

Explanation #1 is the simpler one so without any other proof it's the one I'll accept.

If #2 or #3 is true, then Gatlin needs to fire his agent and his lawyer.

I just went and looked up the Gatlin arbitration rulings. Gatlin admits to being given shots of "B12" before the Kansas Relays where he tested positive. Wouldn't it be easier to assume this was testosterone than getting sabotaged by the masseur?

Gatlin presented evidence that his therapist Whetstine (who I saw one time in Arizona) had asked for a $5000 bonus that was rejected and thus had the motive to spike his sample.

One of the arbitrators even acknowledged what I did above that Gatlin either 1) doped 2) was sabotaged or 3) secretly doped. He saw the motive but still didn't accept the evidence Gatlin presented.

http://www.usada.org/files/active/arbitration_rulings/AAA%20CAS%20Decision%20%28Dissent%29%20-%20Justin%20Gatlin%20-%20January%202008.pdf

and

http://www.usada.org/files/active/arbitration_rulings/CAS%20Decision_Gatlin_Sept%202008.pdf

Considering the history of Trevor Graham's group the simplest explanation is Gatlin just doped. If they doped him secretly I really feel for him.

Any athlete who tests positive can claim they were sabotaged.

Gatlin is either the unluckiest SOB who was this innocent kid in this dirty group, where everyone else was doping, and they decided to secretly dope him, or he was dirty like the rest of them.

Yes, you seem to totally accept the drug enforcement process and that makes your excessive abusive attitude to Gatlin comfortable in your mind.

I have a kernel of doubt, knowing that these are poorly devised tests, which do not pick up all the cheaters, and are often fraught with poor handling and technique.

But becasue its a group who police themselves, they'd rather ruin and innocent athlete, than to put their processes in question.

Your last line seems to recognize this glimmer, but your total attitude does not give any credence to it.

At the end of the day he paid the penalty whether he was guilty or innocent. Even that doesn't seem to make you feel any better. You are a rabid hater. Probably never ever goes over the speed limit. Always put enough money in the parking meter. Never farted in bed and denied it.

Mr Perfect, continuing to throw stones well after the glass house has been shattered.

I have a bigger problem that Trevor Graham has never come clean. If he told the truth about anyone, we would know what actually happened. I don't necessary buy the story about the massage therapist, but I don't necessary believe that Gatlin is lying. For the record: I never believed a single word out of Marion Jones' mouth once Victor Conte came out.

Since we can't point out a substance Gatlin was taking, that's the problem I have.

Factt wrote:

Since we can't point out a substance Gatlin was taking, that's the problem I have.

Testosterone.