Gatlin s Case Puts Concerns on the Massage Table
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Here, every day, every night, nearly every 30 minutes for the nine days of the world championships, these men and women will rub, stretch and knead the athletes on the tables, tweaking them like racecars for this tuneup for next year s Olympics.
But after Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meters, blamed his massage therapist for a failed drug test, the spotlight landed on therapists like these who work for USA Track and Field, and on others who work for shoe companies or as freelancers on the track circuit.
Gatlin, who tested positive for testosterone and other steroids in April 2006, said his therapist rubbed a steroid-based cream onto his legs to sabotage him.
The Gatlin thing started a lot of buzz, and several athletes came in and said: Hey, how you doing today? By the way, what s that stuff you re using on my leg? said Benny Vaughn, a massage therapist with USA Track and Field. I m pretty sure they were joking, but you know, just because one guy blamed his massage therapist like, My dog ate my homework, doesn t mean that any one of us would ever do that kind of thing.
Vaughn said that he did not lose any clients because of the Gatlin case, but that some of them still had questions. They wanted to know if Gatlin s story was plausible: Could a steroid cream used during a massage trigger a positive drug test?
He told them yes, that some creams were used during hormone therapy and were absorbed into the skin. At the same time, he encouraged athletes to read the ingredients on each of his creams, sprays and lotions, so they could rest assured that none of them contained anything banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
There has to be a high level of trust there, or the relationship is not going to work, Vaughn said.
Gatlin, who faces an eight-year ban from the sport, said that a massage therapist named Chris Whetstine, who traveled the track and field international circuit on contract for Nike, used steroid cream on him because Gatlin failed to award him a bonus in 2005.
Vaughn and other therapists at the world championships said Whetstine had a good reputation. Still, they advised athletes to check the credentials and references of any new employees, particularly massage therapists who are often in each athlete s trusted inner circle.
Coaches like the sprint guru John Smith have been warning their athletes about that for years. He tells them, When you lay with the dogs, you re going to get fleas.
It s happened that people have spiked and tainted someone s water bottle; it s that cutthroat, he said. Where there s money, there s always going to be someone trying to take somebody else down.
In the sprints, one-hundredth of a second could mean the difference between a gold medal and none at all. In the field events, inches could mean making the final or not. Money-wise, the difference between first and last could mean bringing home a five-figure paycheck or going home with empty pockets.
Michelle Perry, a 100-meter hurdler, said that jealousy ran hot among athletes who saw their competitors win the races, money and fame. That feeling could cause them to lose it, she said.
Look at what happened to Nancy Kerrigan, Perry said of the Olympic figure skater clubbed in the knee by a man associated with a top rival, Tonya Harding. That s why when my mom heard about Justin, she called and said: Don t leave your water bottles around! Don t drink from anything that s been open already! She was scared that somebody was going to do something bad to me.
Over all, the athletes here do not seem sure what to think about Gatlin s accusations.
What these athletes are sure of, however, is surrounding themselves with people they can trust.
That is why Tyson Gay, the newly minted champion in the 100, made an appointment with Vaughn, and Vaughn only, after the 100 on Sunday night. Gay showed up on the massage table at 2 a.m., and Vaughn was there waiting, having soaked his arms in ice and rubbed them with anti-inflammatory cream to prepare for the session.
With Justin, I don t know what happened, and I don t think the whole story is out there, Gay said last week.
I m just glad that I work with people I m totally comfortable with. I m just glad that I have nothing to do with that whole thing.
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Related: Gatlin s Case Puts Concerns on the Massage Table
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