Gatlin makes winning return after doping ban

US SPRINTER Justin Gatlin easily won his 100 metres heat yesterday in his first competitive race after a four-year doping ban with a time of 10.34 seconds.

Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic sprint champion was running at the KuldLiiga meeting in Rakvere, north-east Estonia as he starts his comeback aiming for the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

The American has not run a competitive race since June 2006 after being banned because of a positive test for the male sex hormone testosterone and its precursors.

The 28-year-old regained his eligibility to compete in July, but he was expected to have difficulty finding races even after the ban ended because of a Euro Meetings recommendation not to invite athletes who bring disrepute to the sport.

However, the organisers of the Estonian meetings, which are not members of the Euro group, welcomed Gatlin’s participation at their event.

Gatlin was the reigning Olympic 100m champion from Athens and completed a 100 and 200m double at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki and had just broken the world 100m record with a run of 9.76 seconds in Doha in Qatar when he was banned.

The B sample from a positive test at a meeting in Lawrence Kansas in April 2006 confirmed his guilt, although he has continued to protest his innocence.

In December 2007, a four-year ban was confirmed.