Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin has failed in his appeal to have his four-year drugs ban halved.

The American was hoping the Court of Arbitration for Sport would reduce his sentence which would have allowed him to compete in June's US Olympic trials.

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It was his second doping violation but he insists he has never knowingly taken a performance-enhancing substance.

"I will continue to fight for my right to participate in the great sport of track and field in a time frame shorter than four years," stated Gatlin.

"I have never been involved in any intentional doping scheme."

Cas also rejected an appeal from the world athletics governing body, IAAF, to impose a life ban on Gatlin.

The only change to his four-year penalty was to the start of the term, with Cas pushing it forward from May to July 2006 because that was when Gatlin voluntarily accepted his provisional suspension.

The ban will be completed on 25 July 2010.

Gatlin based his appeal on the argument that his first failed drugs test, in 2001, should be rescinded because it was caused by a medicine he had been taking since childhood for attention deficit disorder.

Gatlin was suspended from competition for two years but the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the sport's governing body, reinstated him early in 2002.

The sprinter, however, was told a second offence would result in a life ban, which he only avoided in 2006 because of the "exceptional circumstances" surrounding his first fail and his cooperation with the authorities. He was given an eight-year ban instead.

That penalty was then reduced by a US arbitration panel to four years on 31 December 2007.

(BBC)

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