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Todd remains silent on drug allegations
SYDNEY, Sept 9 (AFP) - Champion New Zealand horseman Mark Todd faced the world's media Saturday for the first time since a newspaper alleged he was a cocaine user and had a secret gay sex life. With high hopes for gold in Sydney, Todd made it clear he would only be quizzed on Olympic and equestrian-related topics. Immediately asked by a journalist whether he had abused cocaine, which is banned from Olympic competition, Todd replied: "I don't think that comes under the category that I have just said." In June, Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper printed an expose alleging that the father-of-two used cocaine and boasted of beating Olympic drug tests. The newspaper said Todd, who won Olympic three day event gold medals in 1984 and 1988, snorted cocaine with a gay lover and had unprotected sex. "I've never known drugs to be an issue in equestrian sport...certainly not with us," Todd told reporters. Earlier, he asked journalists to restrict their questions to Olympics and equestrian topics. "I would just like you to realize that we are here and we have got a very important job to do,' said Todd. "We have been selected to represent our country New Zealand, the team competition starts in less than a week and we would like to have the freedom to really focus on this competition and win the gold medal that has so far in the team eluded us." He denied the drug allegations had hindered his focus on the upcoming competition. "I think my focus is pretty good actually," he said.
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