Gatlin files appeal seeking to compete in Beijing

The reigning Olympic 100-meter gold medalist is seeking to void the first of his two doping violations in order to allow him to compete this summer in the Beijing Games.

A U.S. arbitration panel reduced Gatlin's suspension from eight years to four years, but that still would prevent him from competing this summer.

Gatlin tested positive for excessive testosterone at the Kansas Relays in 2006, his second doping violation. But his attorney Maurice Suh contends his first doping violation, in 2001, should be rescinded because it involved a medicine the then 19-year-old sprinter was taking for attention deficit disorder.