MOSCOW -- Athletes who tested positive for steroids but were
allowed to compete in the Sydney Olympics after USA Track & Field
failed to follow international procedure still could face action by
international track officials.
But, following the release of an independent report that found
USATF repeatedly failed to respect international doping guidelines,
Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the International Amateur Athletic
Federation's medical commission, said the next step would be to
defend affected athletes.
"Essentially the report seems to confirm what we said, which is
not surprising to us," said Ljungqvist, who stressed he had seen
only news reports and had not yet read the full report. "We feel
it should be history now but since it proved such a major issue at
the Sydney Games, I stress that the commission found the same thing
we found: a lack of proper action with regards to the doping issue.
"It's still early but we have to think of the athletes who were
clean, who did not want to use drugs."
The Independent International Review Commission found that USATF
had not deliberately covered up any positive drug tests, but
accused it of mishandling several positive dope tests.
Ljungqvist, attending the 112th International Olympic Committee
Congress, was concerned about the injustice to athletes in Sydney
who may have competed against cheaters.
The report cited the example of an unidentified American athlete
who competed after testing positive for an anabolic steroid. The
athlete was cleared on appeal before the 2000 Olympic trials, but
the USATF failed to turn over the athlete's name or enough detail
about the case to the IAAF.
"I don't know who the athlete is, but it needs to be revised by
the IAAF as soon as possible so any retroaction may immediately be
made," Ljungqvist said. "There could possibly be changes. We need
to protect the other athletes who do not wish to take drugs."
The report said the athlete was one of 17 doping cases that the
USATF had not informed the IAAF of in time. It also cited the case
of American shot putter C.J. Hunter, the 1999 world champion, whose
multiple positive tests for steroids were not reported by USATF to
the U.S. Olympic Committee before the team's arrival in Sydney. His
suspension was only announced during the games.
Ljungqvist said the IAAF would demand to know who the 17
athletes were.
"We will ask for names of all the athletes," Ljungqvist said.
"I believe we can, it's a matter of correct behavior. There may be
some more discussion needed, and I don't know how we will proceed
but we must do it."
IAAF regulations stipulate that national federations are
required to give the world governing body the names and details of
athletes who test positive. The IAAF then either supports the
federation's decision or turns the case over to its arbitration
panel, which has the final say.
"That was part of the controversy, the rules say they have to
give us the full details but they argued there is a confidentiality
clause in theirs which prevents them from revealing the names of
those who have been exonerated," Ljungqvist said. "We honestly
often don't know who they are or their full details, just those we
come across ourselves.
"It's a clear trend within the USATF to exonerate its athletes,
it's the same in the U.K., but at least they inform us. There were
quite a few cases in the U.S. when an athlete was exonerated and we
became aware of it only later."
Two such cases involved sprinter Dennis Mitchell and distance
runner Mary Slaney.
The USATF probably won't be sanctioned for mishandling the
cases, Ljungqvist said. A new office, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency,
now handles drug testing for all U.S. Olympic Sports.
"It's unfortunate this happened within the United States but it
will not happen again because USADA are in good cooperation with
us, which was what we were looking for from USATF," Ljungqvist
said.
Ljungqvist said he was surprised by USATF CEO Craig Masback's
reaction to the report, commissioned by the federation itself. The
American disputed several parts of the report, blaming delays by
the IOC accredited laboratories, by the IAAF in processing
athletes' letters of explanation; and by the USOC and IAAF in the
sending of information.
"As far as I can see, they seem to confirm our complaints and
Craig Masback responded in defense of USATF, against the commission
they appointed when he should accept the commission's
conclusions," Ljungqvist said. "This is an ongoing controversy
that sort of exploded in Sydney and now that this is baggage we can
sit down and put it behind us."
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