Gatlin, Jones have two very different battles to fight

	After his surprising gold medal in the Athens Olympics, Justin Gatlin positioned himself as the ultimate clean athlete. Simon Bruty/SI
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It is ever-tempting -- and usually foolish -- to declare a seminal moment in the War on Drugs in Sport. Still, this has been a big week, so I forge ahead. Consider:

• Last Friday it was widely leaked that Marion Jones' "A" sample had tested positive for EPO, which was once largely an endurance drug but has since been shown to be versatile enough to help sprinters in recovering from workouts. (Handy stuff, EPO.)

• On Tuesday, U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin, who tested positive in April for synthetic testosterone or its precursors, accepted -- well, it's not clear exactly what he accepted. Put it this way: He acknowledged the science that examined his specimen and agreed not to challenge it. In exchange, the United States Anti-Doping Agency promised not to ban him for life, but possibly for as long as eight years, pending appeal. It's far from over.

Taken collectively, these events produce a predictable mass media reaction best summarized as, There are more drugs in track and field than there were at Woodstock and we should just stop caring, because it's nothing but pharmacy freaks. There is truth in that statement, but also far too much simplicity. Let's take a look at each case, beginning with Gatlin.

After upsetting Asafa Powell, Maurice Greene and several others to win the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 2004 Olympic Games, Gatlin positioned himself -- and was positioned by USA Track and Field -- as the ultimate clean athlete. Just Google "Gatlin" and "role model." You'll get the idea.

He went on to win the '05 world-championship title in the 100 and 200 meters and then tied Powell's world record of 9.77 seconds in May. At all times, he won with grace and dignity. (And at all times there was an elephant in the room: Gatlin's coach is -- or was -- the notorious Trevor Graham, who should need no introduction here.)

Then came the news that Gatlin had tested positive at the Kansas Relays. "A" sample dirty. "B" sample dirty. Ball game. Because Gatlin previously had served a one-year ban (truncated from two) for a drug that he had taken since childhood for Attention Deficit Disorder, this positive was strike two, meaning a lifetime ban.

On Wednesday, USADA issued a press release from which two parts are particularly significant:

Justin Gatlin of Pensacola, Fla. ... has agreed to the accuracy of the laboratory results from his sample collected by USADA on April 22, 2006. Gatlin has further agreed that his positive test constitutes a doping violation and has promised to cooperate in the effort to eradicate the use of drugs from sport.

And further:

Gatlin has agreed to cooperate with USADA by providing information that may assist in USADA's anti-doping efforts. In exchange for Gatlin's promise to cooperate and in recognition of the exceptional circumstances of his prior violation, USADA has agreed that the maximum period of suspension for this violation would be eight years.

(If you want to read the entire release, it's right here: usantidoping.org.)

This news was dispatched to the world as ''Gatlin accepts eight-year ban.'' Gatlin's agent, former hurdler and NFL wide receiver Renaldo Nehemiah, was greeted with this news upon disembarking from a flight home from Europe. ''Nice way to get off the plane,'' Nehemiah said Wednesday night.

Team Gatlin's view is this: Gatlin hasn't accepted any ban at all. ''All he's done is agree to the accuracy of the test,'' Nehemiah said. ''He hasn't even had his arbitration hearing yet, and he's still looking forward to proving his innocence.''