Gatlin angry at WR downgrade

2006-05-18 07:09

Indianapolis - World and Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin was unhappy about having his world-record run downgraded by the IAAF on Wednesday but vowed to reclaim sole possession of the mark.

Gatlin won last Friday at a IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Doha in what was clocked at 9.76 seconds, a mark that was one-hundredth of a second faster than the world record set by Jamaica's Asafa Powell last June in Athens.

But the IAAF, in a statement, said that the actual timing for the American was 9.766 seconds which meant it should have been rounded up to 9.77 and not 9.76.

"The IAAF has just been informed by Tissot Timing of an error in the reading of the result," the statement read.

"Therefore, Gatlin's time will now be adjusted to 9.77, and pending ratification, will equal the previous 100m world record of Asafa Powell."

Gatlin followed on Wednesday afternoon with a statement of his own.

"It's very disappointing to me that it has taken five days to determine the official time of a race with this significance," Gatlin said.

"I remain confident that I am the 'World's Fastest Man' and I look forward to proving it once again.

"My parents raised me to be a good sport but I don't want to share the world record."

Gatlin's prior personal best of 9.85 seconds came at Athens in 2004 when he captured Olympic gold. It was three-hundreths of a second quicker than the time he recorded when winning the world title last year.

- AFP