Justin Gatlin celebrates winning the finals of the men's 100m sprint at the 2006 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 23, 2006.

(CCTV06-07-2008 14:06)American sprinter Justin Gatlin will be unable to defend his 100 meters Olympic title in Beijing. That was after his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping charges was rejected on Friday, three weeks before the United States holds its track trials.

Justin Gatlin had appealed against a four-year competition ban for doping violations during a two-day hearing before a three-man panel in New York last week. The CAS released their verdict in Lausanne on Friday, rejecting the 26-year-old's appeal to reduce the ban. The decision means Gatlin will have to serve the remaining two years of his four-year ban. As a result, he will miss the Beijing Olympics and will be unable to defend his 100 metres Olympic title. At a press conference in New York, Gatlin said that he wanted to change the public perception that track and field athletes were, "jacked up on steroids".