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 US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), USA Track & Field (USATF), the US 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 US 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 offense. – Reuters __
