Judge prohibits barring Gatlin from competing

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday issued an order prohibiting officials from preventing suspended Olympic 100 meters champion Justin Gatlin from competing, including next week's Olympic trials, until a hearing.

Judge Lacey Collier set a hearing for Monday in Gatlin's home town of Pensacola, Florida, on the sprinter's motion for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), USA Track & Field (USATF), the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

"They are each temporarily restrained from enforcing the current suspension from athletic competition against plaintiff Justin Gatlin or from otherwise using the suspension to prevent plaintiff from participating in the Olympic trials commencing June 27, 2008," Collier wrote in the order.

A USADA spokeswoman said the anti-doping agency looked forward to an opportunity to be heard.

The U.S. Olympic trials, in Eugene, Oregon, will determine the team for August's Beijing Games.

Gatlin, 26, has been suspended for four years for a 2006 positive test for the male sex hormone testosterone.

He also tested positive in 2001 for amphetamines contained in a medication he was taking for Attention Deficit Disorder.

He alleged in a lawsuit against the four organizations that the Americans with Disabilities Act was violated when an arbitration panel used the first positive test to increase his penalty for the 2006 offence.

The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) this month denied Gatlin's appeal. He had asked CAS not to consider the 2001 ban in determining his suspension.

He likely would have been suspended for two years for a first offence and would have been eligible to compete in the Olympic trials.

"Based on the pleadings and the record in this case, the court finds that plaintiff (Gatlin) has demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of his case," Collier wrote.

FIRST VIOLATION

"In a nutshell, plaintiff's first violation occurred despite the fact that the substance found in plaintiff's system was and is clearly recognized as proper for his diagnosed condition, Attention Deficit Disorder, and that by all accounts, it is undisputed that plaintiff completely followed the protocol established at the time for managing his intake of medication before competing," the judge said.

"There is little to perceive in the way of harm to defendants should plaintiff be allowed to participate in the trials.

"The country, indeed the world, would be wrongfully excluded from watching one of its great athletes perform."

Gatlin's lawyer Joseph Zarzaur reacted cautiously, saying Gatlin had continued to train in the hope of defending his Olympic title.

"Now he is more motivated to step it up a notch," the attorney said.

Both USADA and USA Track and Field said they would participate in the hearing.

"Mr. Gatlin's defenses to his steroid doping violation have already been fully considered and rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport which he agreed has exclusive jurisdiction over this matter," USADA spokeswoman Erin Hannan said in a statement.

"We appreciate having our first opportunity to provide this court with the facts as to why that arbitration decision was in the best interest of clean athletes."

(Editing by Ed Osmond)