Gatlin to face US anti-doping hearing

Olympic and world 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin will attend a hearing before the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in the near future after failing a drugs test for testosterone.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said in a statement it would monitor the case and if USADA procedure confirmed the violation Gatlin would receive a life ban.

Gatlin, joint world record holder for 100 metres with Jamaican Asafa Powell, announced on Saturday he had tested positive after a relay race in Kansas in April.

The 24-year-old American has denied ever knowingly using a banned substance or authorising anyone else to administer one to him.

IAAF president Lamine Diack said on the governing body's website: "Although it is a matter of deep regret that one of the biggest stars of our sport is facing serious doping charges, I would take this opportunity to emphasise the IAAF's total commitment to the fight against doping.

"In order to defend the credibility of our sport, we will engage all our efforts, in co-operation with partners such as USADA, to defend the majority of athletes who are clean, against those who break our anti-doping rules."

Gatlin, also the 200 metres world champion, was banned for two years in 2001 after testing positive for an amphetamine but was given early reinstatement by the IAAF, who accepted the result was due to medication prescribed to treat an attention deficit disorder.

Factbox on testosterone

Olympic and world 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin and Tour de France winner Floyd Landis have both tested positive for excessive levels of testosterone. Following is a factbox on the hormone:

¤ Testosterone is a hormone which occurs naturally in both men and women. From puberty in men the testes release 20 to 40 times the amount found in childhood which leads to changes including increased muscle and bone density.

¤ Anabolic steroids were first developed in the 1930s to replicate the effects of testosterone and increase muscle and body mass. They work for both men and women. Testosterone can also be manufactured artificially and is listed with anabolic steroids on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of prohibited substances.

¤ A urine test, developed more than two decades ago, measures the ratio with epitestosterone, a hormone produced along with testosterone but without its effects. The ratio in most people is one to one.

¤ Up to last year a ratio of 6:1 was considered to be evidence that testosterone had been administered artificially. Now the ratio accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is 4:1.