Justin Gatlin sacks coach caught allegedly trying to sell performance enhancing drugs
World 100m champion - who was banned himself for doping - dragged into fresh scandal as he fires coach Dennis Mitchell following claims he offered to supply banned substances.
JUSTIN GATLIN has sacked his coach after he was caught allegedly offering to sell performance enhancing drugs.
Dennis Mitchell has been at the centre of an undercover operation where it is claimed he and an agent offered to smuggle testosterone and human growth hormones into the US.
And world 100metres champion Gatlin has been quick to distance himself from his coach - and insist he is totally drug free.
Gatlin posted a short statement on his Instagram page to make it clear he was taking swift action against Mitchell, a former Olympic champion who was himself banned for doping.
He said: "I am not using and have not used PED's.
"I was shocked and surprised to learn that my coach would have anything to do with even the appearance of these current accusations.
"I fired him as soon as I found about about this."
Mitchell and track agent Robert Wagner have been named by the in an undercover operation, where reporters posed as representatives of a film company looking for a coach to train an actor to look like an athlete.
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It is alleged the pair asked for £187,000 to supply the service, with the banned drugs said to be sourced from a doctor in Austria.
The pair are said to have claimed doping was still rife in athletics - with Wagner even suggesting Gatlin had taken performance-enhancing drugs (PED's).
But the sprinter, who has twice been banned for doping offences, has issued a strong denial against the latest suggestions and immediately cut ties with his coach.
Wagner is said to have named several high-profile people who he said would be willing to cooperate with the plan.
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But when the allegations were put to him he he claimed he informed the IAAF integrity unit about the conversation with undercover reporters in November.
He said: "I wasn't involved in doping. Obviously I played along because I knew what was going on. I had to get them hooked."
Wagner also denied knowing about Gatlin's alleged use of performance enhancing drugs, and said: "I am not Justin Gatlin's agent, how would I know that?"
Mitchell, 51, won Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay in Barcelona in 1992, taking bronze in the individual event.
But in 1998 he was banned for two years by the IAAF after a drugs test showed high levels of testosterone in his system.
Mitchell protested his innocence, mounting a defence that the increased levels of testosterone were the result of drinking five bottles of beer and having sex with his wife at least four times because it was her birthday.
