HURDLES

World 100M Champion Justin Gatlin Denies Doping

American sprinting star caught up in scandal over undercover report.

American sprinter Justin Gatlin, a 100-meter world and Olympic champion, denied using performance-enhancing drugs after an undercover probe was opened into his coach and agent. “I am not using and have not used PEDs,” Gatlin wrote in a statement posted early Tuesday to Instagram. The United States Anti-Doping Agency and the Athletics Integrity Unit for the International Association of Athletics Federation began investigating Gatlin, his coach Dennis Mitchell, and his one-time agent Robert Wagner, after a Telegraph report alleged the latter two had discussed banned substances with an undercover reporter. As a result, Gatlin’s agent sought to distance the athlete from the incriminated associates, with Mitchell being fired and Wagner being described as someone who had only worked for Gatlin a handful of times.