Ex-athletics world champion Barber fined for resisting arrest

PARIS (AP) -- A French court has fined former long jump and heptathlon world champion Eunice Barber euro5,000 (US$6,304) for resisting police officers who arrested her in March 2006.

Her lawyer Emmanuel Daoud says she'll appeal, claiming Barber "is not guilty but is only a victim in this affair."

Police stopped Barber for attempting to drive down a blocked-off road outside Stade de France. She allegedly bit two officers. Police claimed she was "hysterical." She accused police of throwing her to the ground and stepping on her.

The court in the Paris suburb of Bobigny convicted her on the charge of "outrage, rebellion and refusal to obey."

Barber was born in Sierra Leone and became a French citizen in 1999, the same year she won the world heptathlon title. She won the long jump world title in 2003.

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