How does a professional athlete make a return to his/her respective sport? Even after you have served your ban and possibly trained and work hard to make it back to your event, the cloud of PEDs will always be floating over your head. Take Justin Gatlin for Example. Gatlin is a United States Track and Field athlete that ran events such as the 100 meter and 200 meter dash. Gatlin is a five time Olympic medalist winning a Gold, 2 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals. In addition to Olympic medals, he has also won Gold and Silver in multiple World Championships and Indoor Championships.
In December of 2017, Gatlin was under investigation for doping after an undercover report by the Telegraph in London ran. The reporter allegedly disguised himself as a movie producer and asked both Gatlin’s coach and agent about Performance Enhancing Drugs to give to his actor who was portraying a Track and Field athlete. From there, the coach and agent seemed to go along with it as if they would really give it to him while also allegedly stating that all Track and Field athletes are involved in doping. Gatlin quickly denied the claims and fired his coach.
The only thing that does not help Gatlin’s case is that he has been busted 2 previous times for the use of banned substances. First in 2001 while he was competing at the University of Tennessee, then again in 2006 when he received a 4 year ban even though he claimed innocence. The Washington post stated that an unusual occurrence happened at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro as he was booed as his name was announced before an event. Which leads me to believe that no matter what you do or how hard you work, there will always be a negative connotation associated with your name after a ban. There will continue to be speculation whether or not you are still using these substances, and any future victories will be tainted by the actions of the past.
Ryan Upshaw
Group 4-Sport Management Seminar 