Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Carl Lewis, who won the Olympic 100 meters in 1988 after Ben Johnson was thrown out for using steroids, said Justin Gatlin and Yuliya Nesterenko's sprint victories weren't dimmed by doping scandals that dwindled the fields.

World-record holder Tim Montgomery didn't compete after being accused of taking drugs. Torri Edwards, who became 100- meter world champion after Kelli White was suspended for steroid use, was banned this month for two years for doping, while 2000 silver medalist Ekaterini Thanou of Greece withdrew after skipping a drug test.

``I don't think the quality of the fields was diminished,'' Lewis, one of only four athletes to win nine Summer Olympic gold medals, said in an interview. ``The cheats are being caught and that's nothing but good. The 100 is always a spectacle.''

Gatlin ran 9.85 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year, to become the youngest Olympic 100-meter champion in 36 years. The 22-year-old beat Portugal's Francis Obikwelu in the second-fastest final in Games history. On Saturday, Nesterenko of Belarus ended a run of five straight titles for the U.S. in the women's 100.

Gatlin, who beat Obikwelu by one hundredth of a second and defending champion Maurice Greene by two hundredths, said the race showed that doping scandals won't dull the allure of the sport.

``I work so hard on the track to show everyone here and everybody in the world that track and field can still be positive,'' he told reporters after the race. ``I believe I am a genuinely clean gentleman.''

`Fantastic Race'

Nesterenko, who set the fastest time in each of the four rounds of the women's 100 to become her country's first female track gold medalist, said the absence of some sprinters was disappointing.

``I would have liked to compete against Ekaterini Thanou,'' she said. ``I'm very, very sorry that these athletes weren't able to participate in this competition.''

The 25-year-old Nesterenko took gold from Lauryn Williams of the U.S. in 10.93. Veronica Campbell of Jamaica won bronze.

``Wasn't Nesterenko fantastic, and wasn't it a fantastic race?'' Lewis said. ``She was great every round and she thoroughly deserves it. No one can complain about the quality of that race.''

Lewis became the only man to retain the 100-meter title after Johnson's 9.79-second world-record run was quashed. In April 2003, it was revealed that Lewis tested positive for a stimulant in 1988, though the concentration wasn't enough to improve his performance under International Association of Athletics Federations rules.

Of the other sprinters in the 1988 final, silver medalist and 1992 champion Linford Christie of Great Britain was banned for two years in 1999 for taking a banned oxygen booster, while Dennis Mitchell, bronze medalist in Barcelona, was suspended for two years in 1998 for using steroids. Canada's Johnson was banned for life in 1993 after another flunked test.

`Shockingly Fast'

Gatlin, who said he'd go for ``five more'' titles, took seven hundredths of a second off his personal best to become the youngest winner since American James Hines at Mexico City in 1968. Hines's world-record time of 9.95 seconds stood for 15 years until Calvin Smith broke it in 1983.

``I was shockingly fast,'' Gatlin said. ``I'm still trying to feel how fast I ran.''

Only the 1996 Olympic final was faster, when Donovan Bailey of Canada set a then-world record of 9.84 seconds. Shawn Crawford, 26, the third American in yesterday's field, was fourth in 9.89 seconds. With four runners finishing within four hundredths of a second, it was the closest final since 1952, when the top four were all timed at 10.4 seconds.

George Williams, the U.S. track team coach, said the 100 remains the marquee event, though he's concerned about further doping revelations.

``There's a cloud out there,'' he told a press conference. ``My concern is that we get through this Olympics without it raining.''

Before the Games, Sydney 400 relay gold medalist Calvin Harrison was banned for failing a dope test, while 400-meter runner Michelle Collins, also of the U.S., admitted taking drugs. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency also is investigating Sydney 100- meter champion Marion Jones, who denies wrongdoing.

So far in Athens, one medalist has been kicked out of the Games and 10 athletes have failed dope tests, two fewer than the record 12 cheats caught at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Women's shot put champion Irina Korzhanenko may soon be added to the list. The Russian failed a drug test, Agence France- Presse said yesterday, citing Arne Ljungqvist, president of the International Olympic Committee medical commission.

A 25 percent increase in testing from four years ago will ensure fans see clean races, said Lewis, who also won the long jump four straight times from 1984-96, the 200 meters and the 400- meter relay twice.

``We have great competitors and it's fair,'' the 43-year-old said. ``That's what people want to see.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Dex McLuskey in Athens on at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 22, 2004 18:05 EDT