'Wronged' Gatlin denied a fair trial by the courts - but he'll fight on

No-go: Justin Gatlin has been denied an Olympic trial

US District Judge Lacey Collier on Friday had issued a temporary restraining order against the US Olympic Committee, USA Track and Field, the International Association of Athletics Federation and the United States Anti-Doping Agency to prevent those organisations from stopping the reigning 100-metre Olympic champion from running.

On Monday, lawyers made presentations to Collier disputing the jurisdiction of the court to make such a ruling, arguing the only way Gatlin can successfully have the suspension lifted is to argue his case at the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

In his ruling, Collier reluctantly denied Gatlin despite considering that the 26-year-old sprinter had been unfairly treated by those sporting organisations that sought to ban him.

'Mr Gatlin is being wronged, and the United States Courts have no power to right the wrong perpetrated upon one of its citizens,' Collier's ruling stated.

Collier had been forced to concede that his court had no jurisdiction in any matter regarding an athlete's participation in the Olympic Games.

Gatlin lost his appeal to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport on June 6, hoping to have his four-year suspension for drug doping to be cut by half - a judgment that would have enabled him to compete for a place on the US team for Beijing.

Gatlin initially was banned for two years for an anti-doping violation in 2001 but reinstated by the IAAF, which accepted the substances he was using were for
Attention Deficit Disorder, from which he suffers.

The world governing body, however, retained the offence on Gatlin's file and, after testosterone was found in his body after a positive test at the Kansas Relays in May 2006, he eventually was banned for eight years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency - a penalty that was halved on appeal in January.

Gatlin's lawyer later confirmed his client will appeal last night's ruling.

Joseph A Zarzaur Jr said his client will take his case to the federal circuit court in Atlanta first thing in the morning in the US.

'It's kind of a mixed bag," he said. "We're encouraged and not encouraged.'