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Lead Stories: Sunday, September 7, 2008

IAAF Annuls Men’s 4×400m World Record

Posted August 12th, 2008 at 9:23 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

The IAAF — track & field’s international governing body — announced today that it has annulled the men’s 4×400m world record following Antonio Pettigrew’s recent admission of doping.

Pettigrew, along with Jerome Young, Tyree Washington and Michael Johnson clocked 2:54.20 at the 1998 Goodwill Games, breaking the previous mark by 0.09 seconds.

The record will now revert to 2:54.29 set by another U.S. squad –Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Harry Reynolds and Johnson– at the 1993 World championships in Stuttgart.
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After Year-Long Investigation, Russians Soboleva, Tomashova, Five Others Hit With Doping Suspensions

Posted July 31st, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

In a scandal that will likely leave the Russian women’s middle distance Olympic team in tatters, middle distance stars Yelena Soboleva and Tatyana Tomashova, along with five others, have been provisionally suspended for “tampering with the doping control process,” the IAAF announced today.

According to a statement issued by the IAAF, the athletes have been charged “for a fraudulent substitution of urine which is both a prohibited method and also a form of tampering with the doping control process.”

The athletes –middle distance runners Yulia Fomenko, Svetlana Cherkasova, and Olga Yegorova, and throwers Daria Pishchalnikova and Gulfiya Khanafeyeva were also named– were apparently targeted in a year-long investigation carried out by the global governing body.
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New USATF CEO Takes a Stand Against Marion Jones’ Commutation Request

Posted July 23rd, 2008 at 10:30 AM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, SoundOFF, Columns, Drugs In Sports

Doug Logan, the new chief executive officer of USA Track & Field, wrote an open letter to President Bush Tuesday in regard to Marion Jones’ plea for commutation of her prison sentence. Jones currently serves a six-month sentence that began in March for lying to federal agents about her performance enhancing drug use (tetrahydrogestrinone, also known as THG or “the clear”) and a check-fraud scheme.

In his letter, Logan asks Bush to deny Jones’ appeal for a pardon.

“As the new CEO of USA Track & Field, I have a moral and practical duty to make the case against her request. With her cheating and lying, Marion Jones did everything she could to violate the principles of track and field and Olympic competition,” Logan wrote. Read the rest of this entry »

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In Letter to President Bush, USATF Opposes Jones’ Request for Pardon, Commutation

Posted July 22nd, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Drugs In Sports

Douglas Logan, the newly appointed CEO of USA Track & Field (USATF), has written President Bush to express his concern at Marion Jones’ application for pardon or commutation of her conviction for making false statements to federal investigators. Below is the full text of Logan’s letter to President Bush on behalf of USATF.

Editor’s Note: Although often challenging, I believe that a person who has wronged should be forgiven if they serve their time, demonstrate remorse, and dedicate themselves to mitigating the damage caused by their actions. However, and despite the compassion I feel for Marion Jones and her family, I join Mr. Larson in his opposition to her request for a presidential pardon or commutation. To completely ignore the egregious frauds committed by Jones through criminal exoneration would be a tremendous injustice, send a terrible message to young athletes, and be yet another slap in the face to those who she cheated - especially her former teammates, competitors, and supporters in the running community.

Whether or not you agree with me, I encourage you to make your own voice heard. For more information about writing President Bush, please click here.

Dear President Bush,

They say you can’t always believe what you read in the papers. So, when I read that Marion Jones has applied to you for a pardon or commutation of her federal conviction for making false statements to investigators, I couldn’t believe it. She lied to federal agents. She took steroids. She made false statements in a bank fraud investigation - not necessarily in that order. She admitted it. And now she apparently wants to be let off.

As the new CEO of USA Track & Field, I have a moral and practical duty to make the case against her request.
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Note on the News: Honolulu Marathon Champ Disqualified

Posted June 24th, 2008 at 11:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Drugs In Sports

News outlets in Honolulu are reporting that Ambese Tolossa, the Ethiopian marathoner who won last December’s Honolulu Marathon, has been disqualified for failing a drug test. The news broke after today’s release of IAAF News which listed Tolossa as having failed an in-competition doping control in Honolulu, and he had already been suspended by his federation for a two year period beginning last February.

Jimmy Muindi, who finished second, was declared the race winner. It was his sixth Honolulu Marathon title.

You can read various reports at these links:

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=7314

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8549843

http://www.kitv.com/news/16698675/detail.html

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Javornik Cleared of Doping Charge by Slovenian Federation

Posted June 20th, 2008 at 8:28 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

The Slovenian Athletics Federation (AZS) cleared distance runner Helena Javornik of doping charges despite two recent positive tests showing the presence of EPO.

“Helena Javornik did not commit a doping offense,” Tadej Malovrh, the head of the federation’s anti-doping commission said in a statement released early this morning after a four-and-a-half hour hearing concluded.

“This is what I was expecting,” Javornik, 42, the national record holder in all events from the mile to the marathon, told Slovenian national television. “Because I’ve never taken anything illegal.”
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World Records and Doping Suspicions

Posted June 10th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

We get a fantastic world record in the 100 meters, and one of the first questions is about drugs. From the New York Times:

When Usain Bolt of Jamaica set a world record of 9.72 seconds at 100 meters Saturday night, two questions became urgent:

Was the supporting tailwind legal?

Was Bolt himself legal?

Track and field has become so compromised by doping that any startling performance brings immediate suspicion. Even before the race at the Reebok Grand Prix meet on Randall’s Island, Bolt and his top challenger, the 2007 world champion Tyson Gay, faced inevitable questions from reporters about performance-enhancing drugs. The pre-race inquiries have become as routine as the postrace drug screens.

The purists and the pollyannas alike bemoan this state of affairs. And while the comedians and cartoonists have (rightly) turned their doping jokes towards baseball instead of track, they still don’t get the same treatment. Manny Ramirez smacked his 500th career home run this week and did not have to answer these kind of questions.

Will track ever be rid of this suspicion? I say not any time soon, and maybe never.
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TFS News Briefs: 6/05/2008

Posted June 5th, 2008 at 9:30 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

Bislett Games To Wean Golden League Million Dollar List
That list of contenders for the Golden League million dollar jackpot always looks impressive after the first meet of the year. It only starts becoming meaningful, though, after the second meet, because only undefeated athletes can contend for the million dollar prize. The list below should be quite a bit shorter after this weekend’s Bislett Games, the 2nd installment of the six-meet series:

Men
100m - Nesta Carter (JAM)
400m - LaShawn Merritt (USA)
1500m - Augustine Choge (KEN)
400m Hurdles - Bershawn Jackson (USA)
Long Jump - Hussein Al-Sabee (KSA)
Javelin Throw - Tero Pitkämäki (FIN)

Women
200m - Sherone Simpson (JAM)
800m - Pamela Jelimo (KEN)
100m Hurdles - Josephine Onyia (ESP)
High Jump - Blanka Vlasic (CRO)
IAAF

Gatlin Decision To Be Published On Friday
Track fans around the world will know the fate of disgraced sprinter Justin Gatlin by Friday afternoon when the CAS publishes its decision. Gatlin is hoping o get a two-year reduction of his four-year suspension, which would make him eligible to try qualifying for the US Olympic Trials which will be held later this month in Eugene, Oregon.
AFP

Adam Goucher: Kara In Best Shape Of Her Life
As Kara Goucher prepares to face world-record holder Meseret Defar in the Prefonaine Classic 5000m, her husband Adam has stated that she is “strong. Hands down, the best shape of her life. So strong, and ready to go. It’s going to be a great year.”
USA Today
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TFS News Briefs: 6/04/2008

Posted June 4th, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Olympics, Drugs In Sports, TFS News Briefs

Sebastian Coe: Real Damage to Track & Field Inflicted By Americans
British Middle-Distance Great Sebastian Coe has written a scathing indictment of America’s role in the doping scandal in track & field and our attitude toward the sport. Perhaps most telling are his words, “American athletes who remain anonymous in their own towns are lauded in the Golden League in Europe.”
More: Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom

Lagat Remains a Student Of the Sport
The Guardian has posted a profile of Beijing 1500m favorite Bernard Lagat who, after all of his experience and success, remains a careful student of the sport who learns something every day.
More: guardian.co.uk, UK

Bolt Undecided About Olympic Double
Having only run five 100m races in his entire life, world-record holder Usain Bolt is still not sure whether or not he will attempt a 100m/200m double in Beijing. He said he would run the 200m “for sure” but that he would leave the decision about the 100m up to his coach, Glen Mills.
More: CBC
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The Week in the Rear View: Racing News May 26 – June 1

Posted June 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Jay Hicks

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Week in Rear View

The Week In the Rear View is a weekly column wrapping up the week’s events in running and track & field. I am normally found at PreraceJitters.com, writing about the fast life of track and field.

Everyone in the track world is talking about Usain “Lightening” Bolt. He shut ‘em down—literally! Bolt quieted his critics with a 9.72 seconds World Record performance with World Champion Tyson Gay in the race. Tyson Gay looked in good shape for this time of season running 9.85, which was good enough for second. Doesn’t that sound crazy? Bolt is now the favorite in Beijing, but two months is certainly a long time from now.

You could call it the law of averages. The Jeremy Wariner vs. LaShawn Merritt race in Berlin resulted in the end of Wariner’s winning streak that dates back to 2005. Merritt was superb. He executed a perfect race strategy to deliver the win. Before the media writes the early demise of Wariner, it should be noted that he isn’t in top shape, not yet—that will be in Beijing.

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