IAAF may sanction Drummond after protest

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) -- The IAAF world track & field federations was to investigate Monday whether to sanction U.S. sprinter Jon Drummond for refusing to leave the track after being disqualified in the a 100 meters quarterfinal which briefly threw World Championships into chaos over the weekend.

During the meeting, which was previously planned, the sport's top officials will assess what measures to take, but IAAF secretary general Istvan Gyulai said the outcome was far from assured.

"The range of opinions within the leadership is rather wide," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

"It ranges from 'yes, we understand. It was his last opportunity before retiring' to the need to have immediately very serious sanctions. The options are innumerable."

Late Sunday, after he was disqualified for a false start, Drummond lay on his back on the track for several minutes as race officials tried to get him to leave. He egged on the 50,000 fans at the Stade de France, who booed race officials.

"It doesn't do good to the sport unless you adopt the cynical view that all publicity is good publicity," Gyulai said.

Later, Drummond was officially disqualified and did not appear for the rerun of his heat run half an hour later.

Then, each time the six remaining runners got into their blocks, the spectators at the Stade de France booed and whistled, preventing the race from going ahead. It took seven attempts over 15-20 minutes before the heat finally took place.

The semifinals and final will be run Monday.

Under new international track rules, only one false start by anyone in the field is allowed. After that, any athlete called for jumping the gun is automatically disqualified. Previously, each athlete was allowed two false starts before disqualification.

These are the first world outdoor championships where the new rule has been applied.

Among those watching the drama at the 71,000-seat stadium was International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

"It is unsportsmanlike behavior which deserves a suspension," Rogge was quoted as saying by the Parisian sports daily L'Equipe.

The incident was reminiscent of the 100-meter final at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where defending champion Linford Christie of Britain refused to leave the track for several minutes after a false-start disqualification.