Coe and IAAF treatment of Gatlin ‘inhumane’

ATHLETICS chief Sebastian Coe and the IAAF’s treatment of controversial 100m world champion Justin Gatlin is inhumane and unsportsmanlike, the athlete’s agent told the BBC.

British athletics legend Coe -- a two-time 1 500m Olympic champion -- had told the BBC on Sunday that two-time drugs cheat Gatlin’s victory in the sport’s most high-profile event in London, which was watched by more than eight million viewers in Britain, was not the perfect script.

Gatlin, 35, was loudly booed throughout the 100m rounds and the verbal abuse was ratcheted up a few notches when he won the final, denying Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt a 12th world title in his last individual final.

The 60 000-plus spectators jeered Gatlin while chanting bronze medal winner Bolt’s name as if he were the champion.

Coe said he was not very excited about the prospect of placing the gold medal around Gatlin’s neck.

“I’m not eulogistic that someone who has served two bans has walked off with one of our glittering prizes,” he said.

However, Gatlin’s agent Renaldo Nehemiah, a former 110m hurdles world record holder, was scathing about Coe’s remarks.

“I take offence to, with all respect, Lord Coe,” he told the BBC.

“I don’t condone doping but Justin Gatlin has done his time, he plays by the rules, the IAAF reinstated him.

“So to put a narrative out that it’s just Justin Gatlin and he’s the bad guy, it’s really not fair. It’s inhumane. It’s unsportsmanlike.”