World class sprinter Justin Gatlin went back to court -- again -- yesterday and today in Georgia, in another attempt to obtain permission, or contrition to run at the US Olympic Trials in Oregon. (AHN has the story)
Banned sprinter Justin Gatlin filed another appeal Wednesday following a latest decision upholding a ban preventing him from competing in the upcoming U.S. Trials.
Gatlin thru this lawyer Joseph Zarzaur filed a "motion for injunction" on Wednesday with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta asking that he be allowed to compete in the 100-meter event scheduled to start Saturday in Eugene, Ore. A similar motion has also been filed with U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier in Pensacola, Fla., who on Tuesday reversed an earlier ruling allowing him to compete in the U.S. Trials this weekend despite the doping suspension.
"It is another effort to persuade the courts to allow Justin to participate in the upcoming Olympic trials pending resolution of his appeal," Zarzaur, who has urged the appeal court for a speedy disposition due to the qualifying events slated to begin Saturday, told AFP. "This is not an issue of eligibility but an issue of discrimination."
Gatlin's lawyer are saying that with the present appeal they are not challenging the authority of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in determining the spots for the national Olympic team but are only trying to ensure that the sprinter's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act be upheld.
As we noted, Gatlin's Florida appeal which first resulted in a restraining order allowing him to run at the Trial, was withdrawn Monday by the Pensacola judge.
As we go to press, the AP notes that the 11th Circuit Court denied Gatlin this appeal too.
A federal court has denied sprinter Justin Gatlin's appeal to run in the U.S. Olympic track trials this weekend.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that Gatlin has not shown he meets the "applicable standard for such an injunction."
Earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a four-year ban against Gatlin for doping violations, but the defending Olympic champion in the 100 meters went to federal court seeking to run in trials starting Saturday.
He said he had been discriminated against under the Americans with Disabilities Act because his first doping violation was for taking prescribed medication to treat attention deficit disorder.
The U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency argued that federal courts did not have jurisdiction In the case, an argument U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier agreed with Tuesday when he withdrew the temporary restraining order he had originally granted the week before.
Gatlin sought an emergency injunction from the appeals court, but was denied.
It would have been a wise idea to avoid all this legal wrangling by not doping up in the first place or listening to Coach Trevor Graham...save the Gatlin gun's firing for on-track events.
you are not good pleace dei
Posted by: | 08/19/2008 at 13:14