Athletics:Olympic 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin has been banned for four years for a 2006 positive test for the male sex hormone testosterone, The Washington Postreported on its website on Tuesday.
The report said two out of the three American Arbitration Association arbitrators had said they could not give less than a four-year ban because of a previous positive test.
Neither Gatlin nor his attorney could be reached for immediate comment.
Gatlin failed a drugs test in 2001 for a prescribed medication for Attention Deficit Disorder. He was reinstated by the International Association of Athletics Federations the following year.
The 25-year-old American won the 2004 Athens Olympic 100 metres title and completed a 100-200 double at the Helsinki world championships in 2005.
He won each of his five 100 metres competitions in 2006, including tying the then world record of 9.77 seconds in Doha and winning the U.S. title.
But after it was announced that Gatlin had returned a positive test for testosterone he was suspended while his case was referred to arbitration.