German coach rejects steroid charges

BERLIN (AP) -- German athletics coach Thomas Springstein has denied accusations that he gave a banned steroid, found in his house during a police raid, to a young female athlete.

Springstein trained former 100 and 200-meter world champion Katrin Krabbe and Nils Schumann, the 800 Olympic champion from the Sydney Games, among others.

He is accused of giving the anabolic steroid undecanoate, which police found in medical preparations inside his house last Wednesday, to at least one of four 17 and 18-year-old women he was training for the club SC Magdeburg.

Springstein, who was on vacation in Greece when the police raid took place, has been fired by Magdeburg and let go by Schumann.

"I'm not aware I'm guilty of anything," Springstein told magazine Super Illu, which released parts of an interview with him on Tuesday.

"I'm shocked. The whole thing came out of the blue like a bolt of lightning."

The coach's lawyer, Peter-Michael Diestel, told the magazine that Springstein had the steroid at home for his own use. He is an avid bodybuilder.

Diestel said a coach at Springstein's level wouldn't work with a steroid like undecanoate, which doesn't pop up often in positive tests for top athletes.

"The substance is, let me say, 'down-to-earth' and easily detectable," Diestel said.

"If something was stored in his home, then it's 100 percent sure it wasn't connected to his profession."

SC Magdeburg, in a press release last week, confirmed Springstein is suspected of giving the steroid to at least one of the four women athletes he was training for the club.

Springstein has been under special scrutiny in Germany because of his past record.

He was suspended for 11 months after two of his charges, Krabbe and two-time 400 European champion Grit Breuer, tested positive for the banned substance clembuterol following the 1991 world championships.

But the coach's career was revived with a strong comeback from Breuer, his girlfriend, after she served a 3 1/2 year suspension. She won several medals at European and world championships upon her return to competition.

Springstein and Breuer also told Super Illu they plan to marry.