ATHLETICS-WORLD/SPRINTS Bolt, Gatlin showdown billed as fight for soul of athletics

Record ID: 143151

  • Title: ATHLETICS-WORLD/SPRINTS Bolt, Gatlin showdown billed as fight for soul of athletics
  • Date: 21st August 2015
  • Summary: ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** BOLT STANDING UP, SHAKING HAND OF HOST AND WALKING AWAY
  • Embargoed: 5th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7UD6Y3VR10SSUOILM6BVQCDAI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Usain Bolt returns to the site of his first global triumph this week for a world championships showdown with a convicted dope cheat that has ramifications for athletics beyond just establishing who is the fastest man in the world.
    The Jamaican's battle over 100m and 200m with Justin Gatlin will be the highlight of the Aug. 22-30 championships at the Bird's Nest stadium, and victory for the in-form American would serve as an unwelcome reminder of the scourge of doping.
    The governing International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has endured three weeks of embarrassing leaks and accusations that it has neglected its duty to root out drug cheats.
    On Sunday, the IAAF denied media reports it had suppressed a 2011 survey that revealed up to a third of the world's top competitors admitted using banned performance-enhancing techniques.
    Britain's Sebastian Coe, elected to run international athletics on Wednesday, has promised to set up an independent anti-doping body for the sport, a theme he campaigned on.
    With less than a year to go until the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Bolt needs to dispel concerns over his form and fitness in a city where he won three gold medals in world record times, the defining performance of the 2008 Games.
    Chief among the threats to Bolt's dominance is Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic and 2005 world 100m champion who has lost five years of his career to drugs bans.
    Undefeated over 100m and 200m since 2013 and boasting the best times of the year (9.74 and 19.57), the 33-year-old Gatlin has comfortably beaten all-comers this year but has yet to face Bolt.
    Bolt, who will be 29 on Friday, ran 9.87 in the 100m in London last month and has a track record of saving his best performances for the biggest events.
    Joint problems have hampered the 29-year-old's season, however, and he returns to the Bird's Nest stadium for the 100m heats on Saturday with best times of 9.87 and 20.13 seconds for each sprint.
    Gatlin, although he has yet to go head-to-head with Bolt this year and has beaten the Jamaican only once in seven attempts over the 100m, has not been beaten in either sprint for two years.
    The 33-year-old owns the best times of the year in both events with a personal best of 9.74 in 100m and 19.57 in the 200m.
    The Beijing sprint showdowns between Bolt, who has never failed a drugs test, and Gatlin, who has served two suspensions for using banned substances, have been billed as battles for the soul of the sport.
    Tyson Gay could also be a threat to Bolt and Gatlin, and he too is no stranger to controversy having served a doping ban between after testing positive for a banned substance in 2013.
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