LAUSANNE, Switzerland — There will be no Olympics this year for sprinter Justin Gatlin.

His appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping charges was rejected Friday, three weeks before the United States holds its track trials.

The three-man CAS panel has upheld the four-year ban given to the 26-year-old sprinter earlier this year by another arbitration panel.

Gatlin, whose ban won't expire until July 25, 2010, had hoped to have it reduced to two years, giving him a chance to defend his 100-meter Olympic title.

The initial arbitration panel that reduced Gatlin's possible eight-year ban to four years essentially had offered up a blueprint for how Gatlin might conduct the appeal — eliminating his first doping offense in 2001 — but the CAS arbitrators didn't agree.

Though the timing of the decision was quick, the ruling wasn't what Gatlin needed.

It means he must decide whether to continue his running career through the 2012 Games or possibly look into football. He's had workouts with a handful of NFL teams.

Gatlin, who once held himself up as a role model for clean competition, has said he doesn't know how steroids got into his system before the April 2006 test, when he tested positive for excessive testosterone.

A second positive test usually prompts a lifetime ban. But because of the special circumstances behind Gatlin's first positive test — he was taking medicine to treat attention-deficit disorder — he reached an agreement with USADA that called for a maximum eight-year ban.

In January, the initial arbitration panel reduced that to four years. USADA general counsel Bill Bock said then that arbitrators acknowledged the help Gatlin provided to federal authorities "in investigating doping in sport."

Gatlin hoped CAS would reduce the ban one more time, arguing the 2001 doping violation should be rescinded.

Gatlin was suspended from international competition for two years, but the sport's governing body reinstated him after one year. Even so, the International Association of Athletics Federations has pushed for Gatlin to be banned for life.

Friday's ruling also means Gatlin will have no immediate chance to regain his world record in the 100 meters. He once shared the record of 9.77 seconds with Jamaica's Asafa Powell, who improved it, finishing in 9.74 seconds last September. But Jamaica's Usain Bolt is the man to beat now, setting a new record of 9.72 on May 31 in New York City.