U.S. track body votes lifetime ban for steroid users, coaches
By Times Staff and Wire Reports
Published December 4, 2003
GREENSBORO, N.C. - USA Track & Field's board of directors voted unanimously Wednesday to ban for life athletes who test positive for steroids. The "zero-tolerance" policy also would ban the athletes' coaches.
The proposal will go to a USATF subcommittee and then to the full federation for a final vote Sunday, the last day of the group's annual meeting.
"Right now it's the right way to go," said board member and six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. "People can see we have been serious. ... The last two, three months ... ended up hurting our sport."
The IOC, U.S. Olympic Committee and the IAAF, the international track and field federation, have been critical of the USATF for its handling of a 1999 positive steroid test by runner Jerome Young, who was cleared to compete at the 2000 Olympics.
GOLF: Three lead Tour qualifier
Danny Briggs and Swedes Mathias Gronberg and Daniel Chopra shot 5-under 67s in windy conditions to share the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at Winter Garden. The top 30 players after the sixth round Monday will receive 2004 PGA Tour cards; remaining players will get exempt or conditional status on the Nationwide Tour. Kris Cox, Brian Bateman and Bradley Hughes opened with 68s, and eight others were at 69.
COLLEGES: UGA's Dooley hospitalized
Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley was diagnosed with a gastric ulcer, which caused internal bleeding and his hospitalization after a 911 call by his wife Monday night. He is in stable condition and may be released today or Friday. Dooley, 71, who will retire in June, has had five angioplasties since 1987.
DIVING: John Candler resigned as North Carolina State's coach after an investigation turned up his 1966 conviction on a sex charge involving a 12-year-old girl. The university said Candler will remain with the athletic department in an administrative capacity until he retires March 31. The investigation was triggered by a Nov. 19 e-mail message sent to chancellor Marye Anne Fox's office by Jane Schneider, 53, of East Lansing, Mich., who said she knew the victim. In 1985, Candler was charged with taking indecent liberties with a 15-year-old Wake County girl. He pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence.
VOLLEYBALL: Tampa All-American Ania Ruiz has been named Sunshine State Conference Female Athlete of the Month for November. She led the Spartans to a 9-0 mark and a berth in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, where they face host Cal State San Bernardino today.
OBITUARY: Robert Dowell, former basketball coach and athletic director at Pepperdine University and a standout college and professional basketball player in the 1930s, has died at 91.
HORSE RACING: Mixed news for Downs
The American Graded Stakes Committee presented Tampa Bay Downs officials with a bad news, good news situation this week, announcing that the Florida Oaks had lost its Grade III status but that the Oldsmar track's top turf event, the Hillsborough Stakes, had attained Grade III status in its first year of eligibility. Races earn grades based on performances of entrants over a five-year period. The higher the grade - the Kentucky Derby is a Grade I, for example - the higher the purses and quality of horses. The quality of the Downs' turf course and its niche as a winter venue immediately made the Hillsborough a source of good racing. The live meet begins Dec. 13.
ET CETERA
TRIATHLON: The International Triathlon Union has selected Honolulu for its world championships Oct. 8-9, 2005. The event includes a 1,500-meter swim along Waikiki Beach, a 25-mile bike ride around Diamond Head and a 61/4-mile run through Honolulu's tourist district.
SWIMMING: Retests of all samples from the world championships in July in Barcelona, Spain, found no evidence of the recently detected steroid THG.
SOCCER: The MLS MetroStars traded All-Star defender Steve Jolley to the Dallas Burn for defender Tenywa Bonseu and a third-round pick in the 2004 draft.
BOXING: Former IBF featherweight champion Jorge Paez said he will retire after his next fight unless Top Rank makes good on promises to get him another title shot. Paez, 38, a huge draw in the Southwest and his native Mexico, faces Scott McCracken in a lightweight bout Friday in Phoenix.
FIGURE SKATING: Michelle Kwan has switched to her third coach since 2001, leaving Scott Williams for Rafael Arutunian, a noted jump technician with whom she worked part time before the 2002 Olympics.
