Track athletes respond to doping allegations

World track champion Tyson Gay was in Manhattan on Thursday to promote his appearance at Saturday's Reebok Grand Prix in New York, but Gay and other track athletes could not escape lingering questions about doping in sports.

Gay, 25, seemed unaware that defending Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin was across town trying to convince the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce his four-year doping ban to two years so he can compete in the Olympic trials in June, according to the Canadian Press.

The news about Gatlin came just as Trevor Graham, a former track coach, was found guilty of lying to investigators about his relationship with a steroids dealer, the Canadian Press reported.

"I definitely understand that people have questions," Gay told reporters at the news conference on Thursday. "People are going to question us because we've had athletes busted in the past. But I can't worry about it much. I know what I do," he said.

Gay, the 2007 world champion in the 100 and 200 meters, said "I know how I train every day, how I eat, sleep and run. I can't help what people talk about. People will have suspicions about track and field probably as long as track and field is going on."

Along with a dozen American athletes, Gay signed up for a new anti-doping agency program that tests athletes for drugs. He will compete against Jamaica's 21-year-old track star Usain Bolt on Saturday.

The 2008 Reebok Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 31 starting at 5 p.m. at Icahn Stadium at Randall's Island, New York.