Bad advice from a drug cheat
Twice-suspended sprinter Justin Gatlin recently gave advice to current sprinters that the way to beat Noah Lyles is to punch him in the mouth. He spoke during a podcast saying, “Like I said before nationals and worlds, to stop someone like Noah, you’re gonna have to punch him in the mouth.”
The college dropout then referenced fellow American Christian Coleman bettering Lyles in a race that is not in Lyles’ specialty, the indoor 60-metre sprint.
“You watched Coleman progress and get faster each round at Worlds. Hats off to Coleman for handling business, and being the fastest starter in the world, the 60m should always be his race.”
Coleman was also suspended but did not test positive. He missed three out-of-competition doping tests in 12 months, which is considered equal to testing positive.
The sprints are historically dirty
Gatlin first tested positive for amphetamines as had Carl Lewis before him, however, both got off. Gatlin, when he appealed claimed that he had been taking the PED during childhood to solve his attention deficit disorder. Lewis got away with his doping test when the legal limit for the drug was upped, higher than the amount he tested positive for.
However, Gatlin got caught again, this time with testosterone in his system (or the precursor to testosterone).
On July 29 — one month after winning the US title — Gatlin told the media that he had been informed by the United States Anti-Doping (USADA) that he had tested positive in April of the same year. Gatlin, like many other sprinters before and after him denied wrongdoing.
“I cannot account for these results, because I have never knowingly used any banned substance or authorized anyone to administer such a substance to me.”
[In the Twitter (X) post below: Convicted dopers Asafa Powell of Jamaica and Gatlin, now besties].
When rivals turn best friends 👏🇯🇲🇺🇸 #AsafaPowell #JustinGatlin pic.twitter.com/q9TeKV0O5E
— The Tropixs (@Tropixsofficial) November 23, 2024
Gatlin’s coach, Trevor Graham, had eight athletes who had tested positive or received bans for PEDs. After Gatlin’s failed test, Graham stated in an interview that Gatlin had been sabotaged. He blamed massage therapist Christopher Whetstine for rubbing a cream containing testosterone onto Gatlin’s buttocks without his knowledge. The therapist denied the claim, saying, “Trevor Graham is not speaking on behalf of Justin Gatlin and the story about me is not true.”
During the same era, on July 14, 2013, it was announced that fellow American Tyson Gay had tested positive for a banned substance in May. Gay admitted the doping, but blamed it on someone else, “I basically put my trust in someone and was let down.”
Gay also blamed a trainer or health practitioner.
Although Graham did not coach Gay, he was given a lifetime ban from the sport as he had coached the likes of Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and others.
Graham first played an important critical role in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) investigation. Graham anonymously sent a syringe containing the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone to USADA. Many accused him of trying to wipe out a rival. Eventually, the investigation came back to Graham. He was subsequently charged with making false statements about his ties to a steroid distributor, Victor Conte. Graham was convicted on one of three felony charges in May 2008 and was convicted of one count of lying to federal investigators. A mistrial was declared on two other counts as jurors could not reach a unanimous agreement. Graham was sentenced to one year of house arrest.
