Humbled Merritt seeks 400m gold repeat

LaShawn Merritt has struggled back from a doping ban disgrace and his humbling excuse why he should not be called a dope cheat to become a favorite to defend 400-meter gold at the Olympics.

The 26-year-old American won the chance to compete at London by taking the title at last month's US Olympic trials in 44.12 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.

“It was not a perfect race,” Merritt said. “If it takes 43 seconds to win in London, I'm willing to go there. It's not going to be my first rodeo so I'm going to go in there confident.” He knows he is lucky to be going at all.

Merritt tested positive for steroids three times in late 2009 and served a 21-month doping ban before winning an appeal to an arbitrator and successfully fighting an Olympic rule that would have banned him from the London Games.

That victory from the Court of Arbitration for Sport came with a price, however. Merritt revealed that he tested positive because he took a $6 male enhancement product, ExtenZe, that contained the banned substance DHEA. “It was tough for me to accept the mistake I had made,” Merritt said.

“I had to man-up and accept the consequences. “Six dollars cost me millions over a couple of years.” Some still doubt Merritt's story.

“I'm being called a cheat,” Merritt said. “It got to me. But training got me through it.” Also helping push Merritt forward was the memory of his late brother Antwan, who was 18 when he died in 1999 after falling through a ninth-floor window at a college dormitory.

“I learned when stuff happens you just keep on moving forward because nothing else is going to stop moving,” Merritt said. “If you sit in your misery it's not going to help in any way.”

Merritt, who came back last year from the ban to take second at the world championships, insists the Olympics for him are not about redemption as much as showing he still has what it takes to win gold fairly.

“I didn't read a label,” Merritt said. “Even though it's sort of a cloud to some people, to me it's OK. I made a mistake and I'm moving forward.

AFP