Friday, August 4
High jumper has another positive test
 
 ESPN.com news services

LONDON -- Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor tested positive for cocaine at least once since he was caught at last year's Pan American Games, senior International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) vice-president Arne Ljungqvist said on Friday.

"I know there was at least one positive test and possibly two," Ljungqvist said by telephone from Stockholm. "There was definitely one out-of-competition positive test."

World record holder Sotomayor, who was cleared to compete in next month's Sydney Olympics by the IAAF council at an emergency meeting in Monaco on Wednesday, strongly denied the allegation.

"Of course it is false, it is totally false," a vehement Sotomayor said after learning of Ljungqvist's comments.

"Behind this, there is someone who wants to do me harm. We see bad intentions," Sotomayor said in a telephone conversation from his home in Havana before heading out for daily training.

The council agreed to half his two-year ban imposed from July 31, 1999 after he tested positive for the recreational drug at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada.

Sotomayor, 32, was the 1992 Barcelona Olympic champion and has twice won the world title.

The council made its decision under its "exceptional circumstances" clause.

"We thought this athlete deserved a lot of our support," IAAF president Lamine Diack said on Wednesday. "We said we can give him the possibility to compete again. He is a human being, he made a mistake."

Sotomayor received a standing ovation in Havana on Wednesday from a crowd including President Fidel Castro after the unexpected IAAF announcement.

"I feel happy with this decision but not completely satisfied," he said Wednesday. "In the end, what I want is to clean my image, but they have given me the possibility to compete in Sydney."

He thanked the IAAF for clearing him to compete in Sydney but promised that "for me the fight is not over."

Ljungqvist, who is head of the IAAF's medical committee and a member of the International Olympic Committee, said he was unhappy with the council's decision to reduce Sotomayor's ban.

"For me it was a decision against our rules," he said. "I disassociated myself from the decision."

"It scares me a bit that he is making these declarations at this time," Sotomayor said. "He really doesn't have any right."

Nevertheless, Sotomayor said he would try to ignore the latest accusation and concentrate on training in hopes of winning another gold medal.

Sotomayor is considered a favorite in Sydney even though he has been unable to compete recently. He is the only man to jump 8 feet.
 


ALSO SEE
Sotomayor cleared for Sydney after ban cut in half