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Agent: Gatlin will 'never overcome' doping legacy

Justin Gatlin's agent Renaldo Nehemiah says the sprinter will always be tainted by his doping past.

Justin Gatlin's agent Renaldo Nehemiah says the sprinter will always be tainted by doping.

The 2004 Olympic 100m gold medallist and double sprint world champion in 2005 was was banned for four years from 2006 to 2010 after being found guilty of using a banned substance.

Nehemiah told 5 live Sport: 鈥淛ustin would have run these times, and faster, had his over-zealous coach Trevor Graham not tried to get him there sooner than he would鈥檝e naturally gotten there. So, what Justin is doing right now, I鈥檓 not surprised by that."

鈥淗is body is rested for four years, so he wasn鈥檛 racing. And he was the talent that I always knew he was," he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 between the rest, and the talent that he always had, and the determination to prove everyone wrong, to prove that he was always this good.鈥

Nehemiah, one of the great sprint hurdlers in his younger days as well as a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, said: 鈥淵ou can do a study - I always say that if you have an argument you can find any panel of experts to support that argument, and then I can find a panel to dispute it, I鈥檓 sure."

鈥淚 say to Justin: 鈥楲isten, some people will never forgive you. Forgiveness isn鈥檛 a part of their make-up, their DNA. This is a part of maybe your legacy that you will never overcome, because of what decisions you made years ago.鈥

This clip is from 5 live Sport on Tuesday 7 October.

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