London - Justin Gatlin's 100m victory at the World Championships in London was "not the perfect script", says Lord Coe. American Gatlin, 35, who has twice served a doping ban, pulled off a shock win to end Usain Bolt's reign in the Jamaican's final individual race. "I'm not eulogistic that someone who has served two bans has walked off with one of our glittering prizes," said Coe, who is president of athletics' governing body the IAAF.
"But he is eligible to be here." Bolt, 30, had been favourite to secure his 20th global gold in the final major championships of his glittering career, but the three-time 100m Olympic champion had to settle for bronze, finishing behind Gatlin and his USA team-mate Christian Coleman. Gatlin was booed by the crowd at London Stadium as he celebrated, but was embraced by Bolt on the finish line. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek, Coe added: "It's not the perfect script. I thought Usain was very generous with the observations he made.
"That must have been a bitter event for him to swallow. He was bigger than the moment and it typifies his career." In 2001, when he was still at college, Gatlin was given a two-year suspension for taking a banned amphetamine. He successfully argued this was due to medication he took for attention deficit disorder and was allowed to return to competition after a year. Then, in 2006 - having won the 100m and 200m double at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki - he tested positive again, this time for testosterone. Gatlin was banned for eight years, avoiding a lifetime ban in exchange for his co-operation with doping authorities. This suspension was halved to four years on appeal. After Saturday's race, Jamaica's prime minister Andrew Holness admitted he would like to see athletes who fail drug tests receive life bans, saying: "It's the only way you're going to fully ensure that people don't cheat in the sport." In response, Coe added: "So would I and so would the majority of our sport. I'm not going to close the door on lifetime bans but we've constantly tried it and lost it.
"It's worth remembering that Gatlin's first ban was for amphetamines, and the case against him was at the more serious end. That then got watered down. We then had the second major infringement. We applied for an eight-year ban and again that got lost." (FA)
