Paris — Can you forgive and forget? Justin Gatlin asks that of his sport every time he competes.
Not with words, because saying “sorry” time and again for two doping positives is not his style. But with each blistering sprint, the fastest man this year has tested the tolerance for forgiveness in track and field and among those who want to believe in it.
Once a doper, always a doper? The rules of sport say not. They’re nuanced and allow second chances. Exceptionally, Gatlin got a third chance, too.
Testing positive first for amphetamine and then for testosterone could, at worse, have seen the 2004 Olympic sprint champion barred for life as a repeat offender. But arbitrators decided Gatlin didn’t take amphetamine to cheat in 2001 but because doctors prescribed it to treat attention deficit disorder first diagnosed when he was aged 9.
That mitigating factor earned him some leniency when he tested positive again in 2006, although the male hormone found this time was a definite performance-enhancer, abused by dopers in sport to build muscle and aid recovery. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and track and field’s governing body, the IAAF, sought an eight-year ban. The American sprinter got and served four more
