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Gatlin sub-10 hopes dashed by faulty clock
Former Olympic 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin looked understandably stunned after the clock showed he had clocked 9.81 seconds at a meeting in Padua on Friday.
The 28-year-old American, who returned to action last month after a four-year ban, had predicted he might run under 10 seconds. He had not, though, expected to set the third fastest time of the year.
A report on the Italian athletics federation's website (www.fidal.it) said Gatlin's scepticism was justified when the time was later adjusted to a more realistic 10.15.
Gatlin, who tested positive for the male sex hormone in 2006, has an official personal best of 9.85 but also clocked 9.77 which was later annulled.
