Duncan Mackay in Monte Carlo. Monday November 26, 2001.
The Guardian. UK.
Javier Sotomayor, the world record-holder for the high jump, is facing a
life ban after testing positive for a banned drug for a second time.
The Cuban tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone at a meeting
in Tenerife in July after having been caught for using cocaine at the
Pan-American Games in 1999. He was banned for two years for that offence,
despite his claims of innocence. Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader, later went on
national television to launch an impassioned defence and among his claims was
that the CIA had spiked Sotamayor's sample.
The International Association of Athletics Federations lifted the ban in
2000 as part of its "exceptional circumstances" rule and Sotomayor
went on to win a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics.
Sotomayor, who announced his retirement last month, will now be pinning his
hopes of avoiding having his name permanently tarnished on the news, admitted by
the IAAF yesterday, that there was a discrepancy between the A and B samples.
They admitted that, while the A sample showed he was five times over the limit,
the B sample showed he was only 2.5 times above.
Meanwhile, at a meeting here today, British athletics is set to receive £48m
in compensation from the government following the IAAF's refusal to accept
Sheffield as an alternative host to London for the 2005 world championships.
Tessa Jowell, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, is
leading the call for the money to be given to UK Athletics after the collapse of
the project to build a new £87m national athletics stadium at Picketts Lock
in north London.
The figure is made up of a £40m grant from Sport England, the figure
set aside by the National Lottery distributor for staging the event, and £8m
from the Capital Modernisation Fund. David Moorcroft, chief executive of UK
Athletics, is drawing up a plan to show how the money should be spent.
"The Picketts Lock legacy will be for grass-roots sport and athletics
specifically," said Jowell at the congress of UK Athletics in Egham on
Saturday. "Sport England will have to be satisfied that the proposals are
sound but there is clear support in principle."
· Hicham El Guerrouj and Stacy Dragila were named athletes of the year
at the IAAF gala last night. El Guerrouj won the world indoor 3,000m and world
1500m titles and Dragila took the pole vault at the world championships and set
a string of world records. | 
