ESPN Track and Field

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Banned sprinter Justin Gatlin wants to defend his 100-meter Olympic title in Beijing. He might have to go through Pensacola, Atlanta and even Switzerland first.

The International Olympic Committee said Gatlin, whose four-year doping ban recently was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is not eligible to compete in the Beijing Games, regardless of any ruling by a federal court judge in Pensacola.

"Should he wish to appeal this CAS decision, he must do so before the Swiss Federal Court," wrote IOC director of legal affairs Howard Stupp in the letter dated June 23 that was filed with the court.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) concurred, saying on Tuesday that Gatlin would not be allowed to run in "any international competition during the period of his suspension."

"We consider CAS decisions to be final and binding and do not think that a U.S. court has jurisdiction over rules of international track and field," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said.

Nine lawyers from the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Track & Field and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency absolutely agreed Monday. They descended upon Pensacola to try to persuade U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier that he doesn't have the authority to override CAS, sport's highest court.

Last Friday, Collier issued a temporary restraining order that would allow Gatlin to compete in the 100-meter rounds at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, which begin Friday in Eugene, Ore.

Gatlin must finish in the top three of his event to make the U.S. Olympic team.

"I'm not afraid of what anybody thinks or what anybody's going to say," said Gatlin, who's been training with his former college coach in Atlanta. "Half are going to believe, and the other half are not going to believe in what's going on right now. My focus and determination is to get out there and prove to the world that I am Justin Gatlin."

Collier heard arguments Monday from both sides, then broke for the day. Joe Zarzaur, Gatlin's third attorney in his attempt at reinstatement, said Monday night that he expects a ruling Tuesday, which would trigger the next step in the legal tussle.

If the ruling were to go against Gatlin, Zarzaur said he would likely appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The attorney said he received notice Monday night that USADA had appealed the judge's earlier ruling on the temporary restraining.

"You can dress this up any way you like, but what it really is is a motion to vacate the CAS award," USOC attorney Howard Jacobs argued. "You can't come here now just because you're not happy with the result."

Gatlin had sought the court's relief to compete, contending the punishment for his first doping offense in 2001 -- a positive test for amphetamines, a substance that was part of medication he was taking for attention deficit disorder -- violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"I'm taking it level by level," Zarzaur said. "If I get an order saying the USOC has to abide by this ruling and this ruling declares the practices discriminatory, then the USOC has an obligation under their bylaws to go to the IOC and lobby for Justin's participation. So they have ethical and legal duty under their charter. If an athlete is not suspended and they qualify, they should participate in the Olympics. It is going to be hard for the IOC, I believe, to take the position that they are not going to recognize a federal court order finding that there has been discrimination, especially when the charter itself prohibits any type of discrimination."

The order currently in place would allow Gatlin to compete at the Olympic trials this weekend, and Zarzaur said Gatlin obviously plans to be in Oregon.

As for his physical condition, Zarzaur noted: "From what I can tell Justin has kept up a fairly routine training schedule. However, as anyone familiar with sports knows, unless you are competing at the top level you are really not training as well as you could be."

Two weeks ago, CAS upheld a four-year doping ban against the former world 100- and 200-meter champion. Gatlin asked CAS to rescind the 2001 doping violation -- his first of two -- which he had hoped would reduce his penalty to a two-year ban, allowing him to compete at trials. Gatlin's second doping offense stems from a positive test at the Kansas Relays in 2006.

Also at issue is when Gatlin's suspension took effect. CAS changed the start of Gatlin's ban to July 25, 2006 -- the day he voluntarily accepted his provisional suspension -- instead of May 25, 2006. Because of that he wouldn't have been reinstated before the trials even if his ban had been reduced from four years to two.

Zarzaur argues that it shouldn't be an issue, contending that if Gatlin's first suspension is thrown out that he will have already served enough time.

"That was a hotly discussed topic," Zarzaur said after the hearing. "It comes down to this: The IAAF rules provide that if you are suspended and it turns out you are not responsible for that particular offense, then you are entitled to credit for time you served while suspended. Justin served a year on the first suspension. If the judge were to find that that was an illegal sanction, then he gets a year for that and he has [served] a year and 11 months since 2006. That is two years and 11 months. Then, the only penalty he would be responsible for is two years. So he served 11 months more than he should have!"

Information from ESPN.com investigative reporter Mike Fish, Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.