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IOC accuses U.S. of doping cover-ups
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Rejecting allegations of drug test coverups, the head of USA Track and Field said the United States is being unfairly criticized for its anti-doping record. Senior Olympic officials have accused the United States of a long history of suppressing positive tests, including in the leadup to the Sydney Games. The issue came to the fore Monday with confirmation that American shot putter C.J. Hunter, husband of 100-meter gold medalist Marion Jones, had tested positive for a banned steroid at a recent meet in Europe. The case was announced only after a flurry of media reports and speculation. Craig Masback, head of USA Track and Field, defended the U.S. procedures. He said the federation had conducted out-of-competition tests before any another sport and any other country.
"We've tested more people for more substances over a longer period of time," he said. "And, unfortunately, we've busted more people than any other sport. "Are we doing it perfectly? No, we're not. But we have set the standard for the rest of the sports world. ... I am far from being defensive about what we are doing. I am extremely proud of what we've done. We've been the leader in the world on this matter. We've paid a price for being the leader." Masback noted that U.S. track officials "have continued to do in-competition and out-of-competition testing in a very vigorous and expensive fashion. We've exonerated some athletes, and we've convicted some athletes." "USA Track and Field and the IAAF have nothing to hide or be ashamed of," he added. IOC drug cief Prince Alexandre de Merode on Monday accused U.S. track and field officials of covering up five positive drug tests before the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He said some of the athletes who tested positive may have won medals during the games.
The U.S. Olympic Committee responded that there were actually eight cases 12 years ago, noting the athletes involved were cleared because they inadvertently used the drug, ephedrine, in an herb supplement called Mahuang. "We never released the names, and the IOC was not notified because the athletes were all exonerated," USOC spokesman Mike Moran said. "Any assertion by Prince de Merode that there was some sort of coverup is absolutely outrageous." But Johann Olav Koss, the Norwegian speedskating gold medalist who is now an IOC member, agreed with de Merode. "The athletes feel that the IAAF and USA Track and Field are covering up and have special rules for American athletes," Koss said. Arne Ljungqvist, the IAAF's anti-doping chief, said last week that USA Track and Field had failed to disclose 12 to 15 positive drug cases in the past two years. Masback said that no athlete who qualified for the U.S. Olympic track and field team tested positive in any U.S. meets, including none at the U.S. trials. He also said he knew of no other pending positive tests of U.S. athletes from the IAAF. "No one who has qualified for the team and could have competed here had they wished tested positive in our system," he said. But Masback acknowledged that there may be pending positive cases involving U.S. athletes who are not in Sydney. "It is a minor number and let me be clear, the vast majority of positive tests that we have, and we don't have a lot of positive tests, are for cold medicines," he said. "I know that there are least two positive tests in the pipeline
at this moment that are cold medicine positives that the athletes
have chosen to contest."
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