Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:50am EST

By Gene Cherry

SALVO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Suspended Olympic 100 meters champion Justin Gatlin has said he will never abandon his fight to reverse a four-year doping ban.

"I can't," Gatlin told Reuters in a telephone call from his Pensacola, Florida home on Wednesday.

"I've got to do the best I can to clear this so my kids, when I have them, won't have to go to school and have people talk about their father.

"I'm never going to give in. This is my life."

The 25-year-old American sprinter is appealing a ban for a 2006 positive test to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the hope of returning to competition in time for this year's Beijing Olympics.

For years, Gatlin enjoyed a life in the fast lane -- becoming the 2004 Athens Olympic champion and winning world titles in both the 100 and 200 meters at the 2005 IAAF world championships.

Now he trains alone at the University of West Florida track with no coach, knowing many in the world believe he is a...