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Monday, September 25
Hunter says he'll 'vigorously' defend himself
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Marion Jones, the fastest woman in the
world, may not be able to run fast enough to escape the scandal
that has suddenly engulfed her.
|  | | C.J. Hunter said he withdrew from the Sydney Games because of a knee injury. |
Jones' pursuit of an unprecedented five golds became more than a
series of sprints and a long jump Monday when she was swept up in
the disgrace her husband, world shot put champion C.J. Hunter,
brought by testing positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone.
She lined up all smiles for the 100 meters two days earlier, as
oblivious to pressure as she was to any threat from her rivals.
That was just a race and, as it turned out, not much of one as she
blew away the field as calmly as she blew kisses to the crowd.
Now the daunting task the 24-year-old Jones set for herself on
the track has turned into a test of all the inner strength she can
muster, starting with the 200 heats and long jump qualifying on
Wednesday.
"The challenge that Marion Jones was facing, a real athletic
challenge, has only been enhanced by all the developments here thus
far," said Craig Masback, chief executive officer of USA Track &
Field.
"Marion has done a great job so far in light of the recent
situation," Michael Johnson said Monday night after capturing the
men's 400 gold. "Hopefully she'll be able to focus on what she's
here to do."
It was a sentiment shared by all of Jones' track and field
teammates, even those angry about Hunter's alleged steroid use.
"I think it's tragic. I think it's very sad," said Kim Batten,
the 1996 silver medalist in the women's 400-meter hurdles. "I hope
it doesn't affect Marion. It's tough no matter how you look at it
for her. I'm sorry for her. It's a major event in her life."
No one is accusing Jones of using banned performance enhancers.
But she cannot avoid questions about whether she knew her husband
used nandrolone and how the disclosure of his drug tests are
affecting her.
The 330-pound Hunter, the most prominent of the athletes accused
during the games of drug violations, had been among the favorites
for a shot put gold medal in Sydney before he withdrew two weeks
ago. Reached in his hotel room, he declined to discuss his case or
the impact it is having on his wife.
"I know what's going on and I am aware of the allegations and
am going to defend myself vigorously," Hunter said in a statement
given to NBC.
"I regret that this news is breaking when Marion Jones is
running," said Istvan Gyulai, general secretary of the
International Amateur Athletics Federation. "It's terrible whether
it's true or not. It has nothing to do with the Olympics."
After a day of unconfirmed reports and rumors, Gyulai announced
that Hunter tested positive for nandrolone and faced a two-year
suspension if found guilty of a doping offense.
Gyulai would not specify when or where the test was conducted,
but IOC drug chief Prince Alexandre de Merode said an athlete
tested positive for massive amounts of nandrolone at the Bislett
Games in Oslo, Norway, on July 28. De Merode said he had not been
told the athlete's name.
Hunter, who finished second at the U.S. trials in June and at
the meet in Oslo, withdrew from the Olympics following surgery to
repair cartilage in his left knee. But he is credentialed as an
athlete while he acts as a coach for his wife.
USOC spokesman Mike Moran said Hunter's athlete credential would
be replaced Tuesday with a support staff pass and tickets that
would still allow him to coach Jones in training and at the
stadium.
"We don't want to do anything that will upset Marion's
emotional support," Moran said.
There have been no reports linking Jones to use of banned
performance enhancers.
"This is an individual matter," said Francois Carrard, IOC
director general, adding that Jones is not under suspicion. "If
she does not test positive, we should not infer (guilt) from one
individual to another."
Nandrolone helps athletes gain strength and muscle bulk by
repairing the damage of high-level training and competition. It has
been involved in hundreds of recent doping cases. Some scientists
have speculated that nandrolone may be contained in improperly
labeled nutritional supplements that many athletes use.
De Merode said the nandrolone sample from the Bislett Games was
1,000 times above the IOC's permitted level of 2 nanograms per
milliliter of urine. He said he had never heard of such a high
concentration.
But Jacques Rogge, vice chairman of the IOC medical commission,
said such a high reading is possible when an athlete is tested
within two days of a massive injection of the steroid.
Ranked No. 1 in the world last year after winning the world
championship with a put of 71 feet, 6 inches, Hunter also was the
bronze medalist at the 1997 world championships. He is a three-time
U.S. champion and the 1995 world indoor silver medalist. He
finished seventh at the 1996 Olympics.
Five athletes -- including a Latvian rower who tested positive
for nandrolone -- have been expelled from the games for flunking
drug tests. Several Bulgarian weightlifters were thrown out for
testing positive for furosemide, a banned diuretic used by lifters
to flush fluids from their system to make the weight.
A number of others, including weightlifters from Romania, Norway
and Taiwan, were caught cheating in tests conducted before the
Olympics, officials said.
Women's gymnastics all-around winner Andreea Raducan of Romania
tested positive for drugs and was stripped of her all-around gold
medal, the IOC executive board announced Tuesday (Monday night
EDT).
Raducan was allowed to keep her team gold and her silver in the
vault. The drug was given to her by a team doctor in two cold
medications pills, the president of Romania's Olympic Committee
said.
Masback said 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 ... are for cold medicines," he
said. "I know that there are at least two positive tests in the
pipeline at this moment that are cold medicine positives that the
athletes have chosen to contest."
|  | |
ALSO SEE
USA Track & Field, Hunter under fire for doping cover-ups
Marion still in news, but this time for wrong reasons
IOC chief accuses U.S. track of drug cover-up
Freeman carries hopes of a nation to victory
Shot putter C.J. Hunter pulls out of Olympics
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