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Banned Olympic coach cleared of doping ties

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 3, 2006

VIENNA, Austria - The Austrian Ski Federation cleared banned Olympic coach Walter Mayer of involvement with doping at the Turin Games.

An investigative commission found no evidence Mayer was behind any coordinated doping effort at the Winter Olympics in February, ski federation spokesman Josef Schmid said Friday.

Mayer was banned from the Olympics following allegations of blood doping at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, but traveled to Turin for the 2006 Games.

Mayer left Turin after police raided the living quarters of the Austrian biathlon and cross-country ski teams in search of banned substances and equipment.

During the raids, Italian police seized what they described as blood equipment, syringes and other materials. Olympic doping control officers conducted simultaneous surprise drug tests on six Austrian cross-country skiers and four biathletes.

Urine tests on those athletes came back negative, but the International Olympic Committee and Italian police are continuing to investigate.

World Anti-Doping Agency chairman Dick Pound said that a Dutch investigator's report clearing Lance Armstrong from doping allegations made by a French newspaper is full of holes.

Pound said WADA has "completely rejected" the report written by lawyer Emile Vrijman for the International Cycling Union (UCI). The report defended Armstong against accusations that he used performance-enhancing drugs at the 1999 Tour de France.

He said the report had so many factual errors that "pointing them out would probably take as much space as the (132-page) report." WADA will consider legal action against Vrijman and "any organization, including UCI, that may publicly adopt its conclusions."

Ignacio Labarta has resigned as deputy director of the Comunidad Valenciana cycling team in the wake of a major doping scandal rocking the sport in Spain.

Labarta was arrested last week along with Liberty Seguros team director Manolo Saiz, two doctors and a mountain biker after doping raids by the Civil Guard. Police seized large amounts of steroids, hormones and the endurance-boosting substance EPO.

The two doctors, Eufemiano Fuentes and Jose Merino Batres, have been charged with crimes against public health. Labarta and mountain biker Alberto Leon were ordered to appear before the court every two weeks and are forbidden to leave Spain.

TRACK AND FIELD: World record-holder Asafa Powell took the lead early and won the 100 meters in 9.98 seconds at the Bislett Games in Norway. The Jamaican finished 0.04 ahead of Shawn Crawford. Sanya Richards, a silver medalist in last year's world championships, won the women's 400 in 49.82 for the fastest time of the year. ... Marion Jones wants to win more championships and medals, and outrun the doping allegations that have hounded her for the last several years, but she may never accomplish any of that. The 30-year-old is preparing to run the 100 meters at the Reebok Grand Prix today. The former Olympic champion is eight years older than reigning world champ Lauryn Williams. Jones will be the oldest one in her race in New York, going against a strong field that includes Williams, Olympic 200 champ Veronica Campbell and 2003 world champion Torri Edwards.

Jose Luis Castillo couldn't make weight, and Diego Corrales was determined not to make the same mistake again. Their WBC lightweight title fight was called off after Castillo didn't come close to making the 135-pound limit, and Corrales decided it was too dangerous for him to fight him at a heavier weight. Corrales gave up $1.3 million he would have made Saturday night to fight Castillo for the third time rather than fight for no title like he did when Castillo didn't make weight against him last October.

The eighth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race in England got under way with ABN Amro One already assured of overall victory sailing into its home port. The Dutch boat goes into the penultimate leg of the around-the-world race with 84.5 points, 25 more than second-place Pirates of the Caribbean, the Disney-sponsored U.S. boat. With only a possible 17.5 points left to be won, the insurmountable gap means ABN Amro One has already clinched the trophy.

[Last modified June 3, 2006, 01:29:10]