Now for the Real Test

Cedric Walker, USA Track and Field's former relay program manager, said he observed Whetstine working on sprinter Shawn Crawford and Gatlin after a training session in Lawrence. Walker said he noticed that after Whetstine finished with Crawford he reached in his bag for a different cream to rub on Gatlin.

"All I saw was the massage therapist go into a bag and bring out something else," Walker said. "He rubbed something else on Justin. . . . It was right there in front of me. It wasn't what he used on Shawn."

Whetstine massaged Gatlin the day before the race, applying cream so heavily it seeped through his warmup pants, Graham said. After Gatlin competed, Whetstine approached him as he was heading to the drug-testing station and ushered him to his table underneath the stadium scoreboard for another massage, Graham said. There, Graham said, Whetstine applied a cream to Gatlin's inner thighs and behind his knees. Graham said he didn't see what was written on the white tube of cream, though he remembered it had a pink squiggle on it.

Graham said he asked Whetstine what was in the tube and that Whetstine refused to tell him, stuffing it into his pocket. As Graham tried to grab the tube, Graham recalled, Gatlin looked behind him, apparently unclear what the fuss was about, and said, "Let him do his job, man!"

Graham said he dropped the matter, not wanting to overreact. But after he learned Gatlin had tested positive, he said, he searched the Internet for testosterone creams until he found a photo that showed a white tube that was just like the one he had seen being used by Whetstine. The pink squiggle, he said, was actually the letter S for Sarati Laboratories. The cream, Deep Hydrating Essential Aloe Cream by Sarati, contains DHEA and is marketed to menopausal women as an alternative to traditional hormone therapy. Available over the Internet, a two-ounce tube costs $21.95.

Whetstine declined to comment for this story. His attorney, Rick Roseta, issued an "absolute, vehement denial" of Graham's allegations. Said Roseta: "I think probably [Whetstine's] position is borne out by the recent indictment [of Graham] by a federal grand jury, which seems to indicate he has a problem with the truth."

Whetstine previously worked on several athletes sanctioned in the BALCO case, including Kelli White and Chryste Gaines. Their coach, Remi Korchemny, pleaded guilty to misbranding a prescription drug as a result of the probe.

"Chris is a very honest and a very good guy," Korchemny said of the massage therapist. "I doubt he would ever commit anything related to unprofessional behavior."

In 2003, however, Whetstine was disciplined by the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists for "unprofessional conduct that could endanger the health or safety of a client or the public," according to the settlement order. The board declined to reveal the details of the case.

Who Was the Target?

After blaming Whetstine, Graham at first theorized that Whetstine was angry because Gatlin refused to give him a bonus on top of what Nike paid him for his work the previous year. The dispute, Graham said, was followed by unexplained absences by Whetstine and caused his track group to advertise for another therapist.

Later, Graham speculated that he -- not Gatlin -- might have been the target because of anger in the track and field world surrounding his decision to send the syringe filled with steroids to USADA in 2003. The federal investigation that Graham launched resulted in five criminal convictions and more than a dozen athlete suspensions. According to that theory, Graham's enemies wanted to take him down by implicating Gatlin, his star runner.

"He sold all of us for the benefit of himself," Korchemny said of Graham and his role in the BALCO case. But "everything comes back. It's like a boomerang. . . . He threw it against us, but it will hit him."

Those around Gatlin say he didn't seem to understand how poorly Graham was perceived outside his camp of runners. Citing the success he had achieved under Graham and their friendship dating from his departure after two years from the University of Tennessee in 2002, Gatlin rejected the advice of his agent, former track star Renaldo Nehemiah, who suggested after the Athens Olympics that he find another coach.

But Gatlin's supporters say Gatlin did understand the implications of a positive drug test. A stimulant in his attention-deficit disorder medicine had triggered a positive in 2001. Though anti-doping officials ruled he did not intend to cheat in that instance, the violation remained on his record. Another positive could bring a lifetime ban.

Gatlin was known to order room service when traveling to avoid the possibility of ingesting contaminated food. He kept his luggage and sports bags locked and avoided cold and flu medication, for fear they could contain banned substances.

A month after Gatlin's positive test result was announced, Nike suspended Gatlin's contract and fired Graham. It has taken no public action and made no comment regarding Whetstine.

There was, however, a public dispute between Whetstine and one of his Nike supervisors. The supervisor, Llewellyn Starks, is alleged to have assaulted Whetstine outside an Indianapolis hotel last June during the U.S. track and field championships, according to the police report. The incident occurred less than a week after Gatlin was notified of the positive test.

Using a profane expression, Starks accused Whetstine of messing with Nike's athletes, Whetstine and his girlfriend told police, according to detective Philip Beaver. Starks, who once worked with Gatlin's former management team, declined to comment. Nike Global Sports Marketing Director John Capriotti did not return numerous phone messages seeking comment.

Though Gatlin's case could go to arbitration with USADA as early as next month, his legal strategy remains a mystery. USADA rules provide for the possibility of reduced sanctions for athletes who provide information against their coaches or other sources of drugs, but Gatlin and his attorneys have not revealed what he will tell the panel.

Some of Gatlin's supporters say they question whether the evidence points to Graham. Others say the massage therapist theory -- even if true -- would be difficult to prove.

Those who know Gatlin well, however, agree on this: He is innocent.

"I have no doubt in my mind he didn't do anything," said Robin Beamon, the ex-wife of legendary long jumper Bob Beamon and a friend of Gatlin's who is involved in youth track and field in Miami. "It just goes against everything this kids stands for. Once you wade through all the craziness, what did he stand to lose or gain? It was the Kansas Relays. He was . . . at the top of the world."

All of which leaves Cedric Walker, like many others in the track and field world, scratching his head.

"I believe in my heart something's wrong," Walker said. "This is starting to look more every day like 'All the President's Men.' "