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<DIV class=cap>Gatlin shares the world record with Asafa Powell at 9.77 seconds</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>World and Olympic 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin has admitted failing a drugs test in April.
The American, 24, was told the news by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
He said: "I have been informed that after a relay race I ran in Kansas City on 22 April, I tested positive for 'testosterone or its precursors'.
"I cannot account for these results, because I have never knowingly used any banned substance or authorised anyone to administer such a substance to me."
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Interview: Justin Gatlin's lawyer Cameron Myler </DIV><DIV class=avinline>Interview: World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound </DIV><DIV class=avinline>Interview: Asafa Powell's agent Paul Doyle </DIV><DIV class=avinline>Interview: Ben Johnson </DIV>
Gatlin, who also shares the world record with Asafa Powell, added: "Since learning of the positive test, I have been doing everything in my power to find out what caused this to happen.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5>
</TD><TD class=sibStdQuote><DIV><DIV class=mva><DIV id=q1></DIV>It is simply not consistent with either my character or my confidence in my God-given athletic ability to cheat in any way <DIV id=q2></DIV><BR clear=all></DIV></DIV><DIV class=mva><DIV class=mva>Justin Gatlin</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
"I have been and will continue to cooperate fully with Usada as it moves forward with the process it has initiated and hope that when all the facts are revealed it will be determined that I have done nothing wrong."
Gatlin tested positive for an amphetamine at the 2001 US Junior Championships.
A subsequent ban was overturned after it was discovered the illegal substances were part of the medication he had been taking for a decade to combat attention deficit disorder.
But the International Association of Athletics Federerations (IAAF) made it clear at the time that a further doping violation would signal a life ban for Gatlin.
In his statement on Saturday, Gatlin said: "That experience made me even more vigilant to make certain that I do not come into
<DIV class=cap>Gatlin shares the world record with Asafa Powell at 9.77 seconds</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>World and Olympic 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin has admitted failing a drugs test in April. The American, 24, was told the news by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
He said: "I have been informed that after a relay race I ran in Kansas City on 22 April, I tested positive for 'testosterone or its precursors'.
"I cannot account for these results, because I have never knowingly used any banned substance or authorised anyone to administer such a substance to me."
<DIV class=avinline>
Interview: Justin Gatlin's lawyer Cameron Myler </DIV><DIV class=avinline>Interview: World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound </DIV><DIV class=avinline>Interview: Asafa Powell's agent Paul Doyle </DIV><DIV class=avinline>Interview: Ben Johnson </DIV>Gatlin, who also shares the world record with Asafa Powell, added: "Since learning of the positive test, I have been doing everything in my power to find out what caused this to happen.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5>
</TD><TD class=sibStdQuote><DIV><DIV class=mva><DIV id=q1></DIV>It is simply not consistent with either my character or my confidence in my God-given athletic ability to cheat in any way <DIV id=q2></DIV><BR clear=all></DIV></DIV><DIV class=mva><DIV class=mva>Justin Gatlin</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"I have been and will continue to cooperate fully with Usada as it moves forward with the process it has initiated and hope that when all the facts are revealed it will be determined that I have done nothing wrong."
Gatlin tested positive for an amphetamine at the 2001 US Junior Championships.
A subsequent ban was overturned after it was discovered the illegal substances were part of the medication he had been taking for a decade to combat attention deficit disorder.
But the International Association of Athletics Federerations (IAAF) made it clear at the time that a further doping violation would signal a life ban for Gatlin.
In his statement on Saturday, Gatlin said: "That experience made me even more vigilant to make certain that I do not come into
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>GRAHAM... They tested Gatlin three times in one week</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Graham told ESPN.com that doping control officers were waiting for Gatlin when he returned to Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 24, two days after the Kansas Relays, where he tested positive for testosterone or other steroids after a relay race. He was grabbed again at the April 25-29 Penn Relays.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"They just kept on testing him," Graham told ESPN.com. "They tested him three times in one week."
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