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| Sunday, July 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Randhawa fails to make cut Woods takes lead |
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 US athletes tested positive ‘escaped punishment’CARL Lewis is boycotting the US Olympic trials to protest what he claims is the continuing cover-up of athletes using banned drugs. The greatest male athlete of all-time has been conspicuous by his absence from the large group of legendary Olympic gold medallists brought to the American Olympic trials in Sacramento by the USA Track & Field, the national governing body of athletics in America. However, Carl has said he would have nothing to do with elite athletics until they stop the cover-up of drugs. Regina
Jacobs, Pappas win Sweden take 3-0
lead over India Corretja puts Spain 2-0 ahead Fulham FC beat India Rai powers
India past Lanka Matthaeus to
return to Metrostars Sacking of Harbhajan endorsed
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Murali forces SA to follow on GALLE, July 22 (AFP) — South Africa, forced to follow-on for the second time since their return to international cricket eight years ago, were battling defeat with 112 for two in their second innings against Sri Lanka today. At close of play in their second innings on the third day of the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium here, the South Africans were in a spin brought about by Muttiah
Muralitharan. Off-spinner Muralitharan took six wickets for 87 runs to dismiss South Africa for 238 in the first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s massive total of 522. But he failed to take a wicket in the second innings as South Africa followed on, 284 runs in deficit. The only wicket to fall to the bowlers in the South African second innings was that of Neil McKenzie who was caught off the outside edge by Arjuna Ranatunga at slip off leg-spinner Upul Chandana for 25. Gary Kirsten, who helped McKenzie add 58 for the first wicket, fell in the last over of the day tragically run out attempting a second run for 55, which in some way tilted the balance in Sri Lanka’s favour. Jacques Kallis was unbeaten on 25 as South Africa ended the day still requiring 172 runs to avoid an innings defeat with eight wickets standing. Muralitharan forced South Africa to follow-on for the first time since the Durban Test against England in December last year when they were dismissed for 156. On that occasion they batted well in the second knock to draw the match scoring 572 for seven of which Kirsten made 275. On a dusty and cracking pitch taking a lot of spin Darryl Cullinan stood firm against the Sri Lankan spinners spearhead by
Muralitharan. The right-hander batted resolutely to be unbeaten on 114, his 11th Test 100 and his fourth against Sri Lanka, having defied the bowling for 274 minutes. Cullinan had 12 fours and a six in his 231-ball knock which had only one blemish. At 52 he was dropped by Atapattu at mid wicket off
Dharmasena, but otherwise batted with great composure which none of his team-mates possessed. The second highest scorer of the innings was Jacques Kallis with 29. Muralitharan bowling onto the cracks appearing at one end of the pitch was unplayable at times as the ball turned sharply and came at varying heights. He took three of the four wickets South Africa lost in the first session, and added the wicket of the South African captain Shaun Pollock after lunch, when he had him caught at backward square leg on the sweep. Muralitharan’s final figures of six for 87 were the best in a Sri Lanka-South Africa series, improving on Brett Schultz’s five for 48 at the Sinhalese SC Grounds in 1993-94. Leggie Upul Chandana finished the South African innings off dismissing Paul Adams and Makhaya Ntini to end with two for 46. Kumar Dharmasena took the wicket of Lance
Klusener, his first Test wicket for nearly two years. He was out of international cricket following a suspect bowling action which he has rectified since. SCOREBOARD Sri Lanka
(Ist innings): 522 South Africa (Ist innings) (81 for 2 overnight): Kirsten c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 12 McKenzie b Muralitharan 11 Kallis c Arnold b Muralitharan 29 Cullinan not out 114 Rhodes b Muralithran 12 Klusener c Chandana b Dharamasena 19 Boucher b Muralitharan 0 Pollock c Dharmasena b Muralitharan 4 Boje c Atapattu b Jayasuriya 12 Adams c Atapattu b Chandana 4 Ntini c Ranatunga b Chandana 8 Extras (b-2, lb-1, nb-10) 13 Total (all out in 99
overs) 238 Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-30, 3-86, 4-119, 5-162, 6-168, 7-198, 8-213, 9-223. Bowling: Vaas 12-6-16-0, Zoysa 4-1-12-0, Dharamasena 25-5-70-1, Muralithran 41-8-87-6, Chandana 14-3-46-2, Jayasuriya 3-0-4-1. South Africa (2nd innings): Kirsten run out 55 McKenzie c Ranatunga b Chandana 25 Kallis not out 25 Extras (lb-4, nb-3) 7 Total (2 wkts at close, 43.5 overs, 150
mins) 112 Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-112. Bowling: Vaas 7-2-18-0, Zoysa 5-2-11-0, Dharmasena 8-1-26-0, Muralitharan 11-2-20-0, Chandana 12-4-29-1, Jayasuriya 0.5-0-4-0. |
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Gough, Mullally jolt Zimbabwe LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) — Darren Gough dispatched two top order Zimbabwe batsmen in 14 deliveries to give England just the start they wanted in the triangular one-day series final at Lord’s today. Gough sent back opener Guy Whittall for a first ball duck and Murray Goodwin for three to give England early reward after they won the toss and put Zimbabwe in to bat on an overcast morning. Left-arm paceman Alan Mullally made further inroads when he came on as first change and removed Alistair Campbell for one as Zimbabwe struggled at 26 for three in 14
overs. Opener Neil Johnson had launched the Zimbabwe innings by forcing the first ball of the match, from Andy
Caddick, through the off side for four, before Gough’s double strike. Whittall pushed forward to Gough’s first ball, got an outside edge, and Graeme Hick snapped up the catch at second slip. In his third over, Gough pierced Goodwin’s defence with a delivery that clipped the bails to make Zimbabwe 14 for two. The Yorkshire fast bowler and Caddick shackled the Zimbabweans to such an extent that they managed only 20 runs off the first 11
overs, with Gough being rested after a spell of 5-2-4-2. When Mullally replaced him, Alistair Campbell drove his fifth ball to Craig White at cover after scoring just a single in 19 balls. SCOREBOARD Zimbabwe: Johnson b Caddick 21 Whittall c Hick b Gough 0 Goodwin b Gough 3 Campbell c White b Mullally 1 A. Flower c Stewart b White 48 G. Flower not out 53 Carlisle c Caddick b White 14 Streak lbw b Gough 18 B. Strang not out 0 Extras (b-1 lb-6 w-2 nb-2) 11 Total (for 7 wickets, 50
overs) 169 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-12, 3-21, 4-31, 5-120, 6-143 Bowling: Caddick 10-2-23-1, Gough 10-2-20-3, Mullally 10-1-32-1, White 10-2-46-2, Ealham 10-0-41-0. |
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Randhawa fails to make cut ST ANDREWS (Scotland), July 22 (PTI) — Dazed by the occasion and pressure of carrying entire nation’s hopes, India’s Jyoti Randhawa exited from the British Open Golf Championship after a frustrating two-over-par 74, missing the cut by three shots at the famed Old Course here. The Wills Indian Open champion saw his Open dream end in an agonising manner after he putted waywardly on the second day yesterday to add to his opening round of 73 on his debut at the home of golf . The 28-year-old, who became only the second Indian after Gaurav Ghei to make it to the Open at Royal Birkdale in 1997, carded a
disappointing 74 after he again missed birdie chances. With wayward putting, Randhawa dropped three shots and missed just as many birdie chances to end his Open debut in disappointment. “I think I hit the ball much better than yesterday but I just couldn’t putt. I missed two two-footers for pars and another two more for birdies. I got frustrated, which I should not have let happen,” a rueful Randhawa said. “After I missed that short birdie chance at 14th, I gave up. If I had made that putt, I would have gone to one-over for the tournament and maybe I could have birdied two more coming in to make the cut. I just lost my rhythm out there.” Randhawa bogeyed the fourth and seventh holes but enjoyed a temporary reprieve with a birdie before making the turn. Coming up to the 18th green, Randhawa, then two-over for the tournament, lipped out his par putt from one foot. Randhawa, currently third on the Davidoff Tour Order of Merit, made it to the Open after surviving the final qualifying rounds at the Scotscraig Course where he shot rounds of 68 and 67 earlier this week. “I probably need to concentrate better and learn to have more ball control. I’m quite satisfied with the way I hit the ball but need to improve my putting. I thought I was a good putter but this week was an eye-opener. I have got a lot to learn.” “But I enjoyed the experience and I’ll definitely try to qualify again next year,” said Randhawa. Randhawa was confident on the opening day particularly after he had done well in St Andrews following an appearance for India in the Alfred Dunhill Cup last year where he carded three rounds of 71, 72 and 73. Earlier, Taiwan’s Yeh Wei-Tze launched a gallant bid to stay in the British Open until a late blemish derailed his hopes of a low second round score. The Taiwanese star was four-under-par for the day with three holes remaining but went bogey-bogey at the 16th and 17th holes to settle for a creditable two-under-par 70. But his two-day aggregate of three-over-par 147, following yesterday’s disappointing 77, saw him miss the cut by three shots. The cut was applied at even-par 144. |
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Woods takes lead ST ANDREWS (Scotland), July 22 (AFP) — Tiger Woods cast a massive shadow over his struggling rivals when he shot a second round six-under 66 to go into the third round of the British Open with a three shot lead yesterday. It was a stunning performance that stretched his bogey free golf in Majors to 62 straight holes. “They spoil the scorecard,” he smiled. Later, Woods delivered a chilling message to his rivals — “I’m playing very similar to how I did at Pebble Beach.” It will not be lost on them. Five weeks ago on the Northern California course Woods won the US Open in a record 15 strokes ahead of the rest of the field. Then to add salt to the wounds he said he hoped the Scottish winds would get up here this weekend to toughen up the course which has been bathed in sunshine since the beginning of the week. “That’s what an open is all about,” he stressed. If the 24-year-old lifts the Claret Jug tomorrow, he will be the youngest player ever to win all four Majors. In fact he will only be the fifth golfer to have managed the feat. The previous youngest player to achieve the slam was a 26-year-old Jack
Nicklaus. Ironically as Woods waited to start his round yesterday, Nicklaus was striding off the 18th green after an emotional farewell from the galleries saluting the greatest champion in golf who was making what will almost certainly be his last appearance at the Open. As Nicklaus signed for a one over 73 for a two round total of six-over 150, Woods was firmly on his way to a six-under 66 and a three shot lead over his nearest rival David Toms, a little known American was making his open debut. One shot further back was the trio of Sergio Garcia, left-hander Steve Flesch and Loren Roberts. The Californian is the only player on the leaderboard not to have dropped a shot and yesterday he never looked as if he was going to, such was his control of his game. A birdie at the first after he hit his approach to within six feet should have sent the alarm bells ringing. Three more birdies before he made his way home simply underlined why he is recognised as by far and away the best player in the world. Overnight leader Ernie
Els, one of the first out, could only manage a level par 72 to remain at six under despite the perfect conditions. The 30 year-old South African missed two 10 footers in his opening four holes and a three putt from just off the green on the par-five 5th saw him fall back. Another bogey at nine and the two-time US Open champion risked falling off the leaderboard altogether. But birdies at 10 and 12 settled the player known as ‘Big Easy’. Els tried to put a brave face on his showing. “Today was my bad round. I know I can play better over the weekend and I’ll do that I’ve got to shoot in the 60’s in the next two days,” he said. Flesch was the early clubhouse leader thanks to a two-under 70 to go seven-under par. |
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Regina Jacobs, Pappas win SACRAMENTO (California) July 22 (Reuters) — Two-time world women’s 1,500-metre silver medallist Regina Jacobs ran the year’s fastest 5,000 metres as she smashed the American record at the US Olympic trials yesterday. Jacobs, steadily pulling away over the last 1,500
metres, was timed in 14 minutes, 45.35 seconds. She broke her 1998 American record of 14:52.49 in finishing more than 26 seconds ahead of Deena
Drossin, the trials’ 10,000-metre champion. “I’m still going to win the 1,500 metres in the Olympics,” said the 36-year-old Jacobs after becoming the trials’ first double winner. She had won the 1,500-metre title on Sunday. “A lot of people say this (the 5,000 m) is my event,” she added. “But I have a lot of unfinished business in the 1,500
metres. “That’s something I have been dreaming of for a long time, to win an Olympic medal in the 1,500 metres and possibly get under (Mary) Slaney’s (American) record.” Former collegiate champion Tom Pappas used strong performances in pole vault and javelin to overtake world bronze medallist Chris Huffins and win the decathlon with a lifetime best of 8,467 points. Huffins finished with 8,285 points and veteran Kip Janvrin became the third US decathlete for the games with a strong 1,500-metre run that gave him 8,057 points for the two-day competition. The 23-year-old Pappas closed within 18 points of first-day leader Huffins in the eighth event of the 10-event competition with a vault of 5.10 metres and went ahead by 119 points when he threw the javelin to 64.45
metres. Lance Deal, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist dominated the men’s hammer throw final with the five longest throws. His best, 78.87
metres, came on his third attempt. Adam Goucher and Connie Price-Smith won the day’s other finals. Goucher overcame tendinitis to win the men’s 5,000 metres in 13:27.06. He edged Brad Hauser by 0.25 seconds. American record holder Bob Kennedy, who was in an automobile accident in May, placed sixth in13:42.15.
Price-Smith, the top-ranked American, put the women’s shot 18.63 metres for an easy victory. Women’s world pole vault record holder Stacy Dragila led 16 qualifiers into Sunday’s final as all cleared 4.02
metres, the opening height. Derrick, Adkins wasn’t as fortunate. The 1996 Olympic 400-metres hurdles gold medallist finished a non-qualifying sixth in his semifinal, clocking 50.22 seconds, suffering from depression for years, he had abandoned his medication — which he said made him lethargic — two weeks ago in an attempt to make the team. |
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Sweden take 3-0
lead over India BASTAAD (Sweden), July 22 (PTI) — Top Indian doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi battled hard in company of Syed Fazaluddin but his effort was just not enough to stop Sweden from qualifying for Davis Cup World Group for 2001. Bhupathi and Fazaluddin took experienced Swedish combination of Nicklas Kulti and Mikael Tillstorm to the distance but the Indian challenge was limited on the slow clay court here. Bhupathi and Fazaluddin pair lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 to the Swedish duo as the hosts took an unbeatable 3-0 lead with tomorrow’s reverse singles to spare. The win took Sweden back in the Davis Cup elite after the former champions were relegated for the first time ever last year from the World Group. India, who had the chance to make it to the elite 16-nation World Group, will again drop to Asia-Oceania Zone Group I competition next year. |
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Corretja puts Spain 2-0 ahead SANTANDER (Spain), July 22 (DPA) — Alex Corretja put Spain to within one victory of reaching the tennis Davis Cup final yesterday after coming back against American Jan-Michael
Gambill. Spain, attempting to return to the Davis Cup final for the first time in 33 years, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup semifinal showdown against the USA, taking both singles matches yesterday. Albert Costa drew first blood for Spain, defeating Todd Martin in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, at the seaside resort town of
Santander. Spain’s top player Corretja followed suit later, coming back to beat
Gambill, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, after dropping the first set on the home clay. Spain can clinch their third overall final appearance — after 1965 and 1967 — on Saturday when Corretja and Juan Balcells are expected to take on Vince Spadea and Chris Woodruff in the doubles. The US team, holders of a record 31 Davis Cup titles, has seen better days, playing without injured top stars Pete Sampras and Andre
Agassi. RENNES (France) (AP): France’s Nicolas Escude and Sebastien Grosjean won singles matches in straight sets in a Davis Cup World Group qualifier on Friday, taking 2-0 lead over Austria. Escude beat Austria’s 19-year-old Jurgen Melzer easily in three sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. The 24-year-old French player had replaced Cedric Pioline for the match in the northwest French city of
Rennes. In the second singles slot, Grosjean won his first victory over Stefan
Koubek, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. The French need one more victory over Austria to remain in the top Davis Cup qualifying group. The loser of the best-of-five match series is relegated to the second-tier European division. MESTRE (Italy): Italy and Belgium split the opening pair of Davis Cup singles matches on Friday, as the two nations squared off to decide who remains in the World Group.
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Fulham FC beat India LONDON, July 22 (PTI) — The Indian football team’s historic trip to England began on a disappointing note as they suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Fulham football club in their opening exhibition match at Craven Cottage here today. Fulham’s seasoned striker Karl Heinz Riedle pumped in both the goals capitalising on defensive lapses to seal the fate of the Indians who had themselves to blame for the debacle. The Indians, visiting England after a gap of 52 years, appeared to be too tentative in the initial stages of the contest and paid the price for relying on a ultra defensive game much to the dismay of the large number of Indian supporters in the galleries. After a rather cautious start, the hosts shot into lead in the 39th minute with the experienced Riedle placing his right-footed grounder to the left of the Indian custodian Virender Singh and then found the target again 10 minutes before the final whistle to further demoralise the visitors. Barring the occasional foray into the rival defence, the Indians were mainly confined to their own half as they tried to ward off the persistent attacks by their much faster opponents. |
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Rai powers
India past Lanka MUMBAI, July 22 (PTI) — Uttar Pradesh sharp-shooter Tridip Rai sunk six three-pointers to power India past Sri Lanka 76-48 in their opening minor placings match in the 16th Asian Basketball Champion-ship for junior (under 18) men at Kuala Lumpur today. Rai, the main target man for India at the championships, collected 18 points with his long-range shooting prowess including four consecutive three-pointers after the breather which helped India recover from a 26-27 half-time deficit, according to information available here. Rai was well-supported by his colleagues Dilip Kumar, a junior army player who contributed 12 points, Punjab’s Lakhwinder Singh (12) and Chandigarh’s Harminder Singh (11). India have to play Yemen tomorrow in their group in the 9-16 placings matches and then take on Iran. As per indications they should not have any trouble getting past these two teams. India, in fact, took matters very easy in their match against Sri Lanka today and utilised all their players by pulling out the regulars at some stage of the match. |
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Matthaeus
to return to Metrostars NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) — German star defender Lothar Matthaeus has agreed to return to the New York/New Jersey Metrostars next week after meeting for three hours with major league soccer and club officials yesterday. Mathaeus, who had been in a war of words with Metrostar coach Octavio
Zambrano, has been sidelined with a back injury and is expected to return to training with the club on Monday or Wednesday. Matthaeus, 39, looked tired after the meeting but appeared to be happy with the outcome. “I think we can go a good way together for the next three months”, he said. “This coach waits for me. I hope I can give him my best effort”. Matthaeus, captain of Germany’s 1990 World Cup championship team and the all-time leader in international appearances (150), has been at odds with the Metrostars for two weeks since injuring his back. He will be examined by Metrostars team doctors in consultation with his German physician. “We have yet to play very important matches”, Metrostars coach Octavio Zambrano said. “It would be beneficial to us to have the players that have the kind of experience and maturity Lothar Matthaeus has. We look at the big picture and the big picture calls for a possible championship game down the line”. Matthaeus left the Metrostars for the European Championship in mid-May. While he was gone, the Metrostars added several players and went from the worst team in the 12-team league to the best. They are in first place in the eastern division with a league-best 12-7-2 record and 38 points. Matthaeus, however, will have to earn back a starting position. “We don’t guarantee a player a starting position”, Zambrano said. “When you are dealing with this type of injury, you can’t gauge anything until you see him on the field and see his fitness. It is important that he is 100 per cent fit”. Asked if the team considered releasing
Matthaeus, Metrostars General Manager Nick Sakiewicz said: “The decision about his future was really up to him. When it concerns a player with his skill and talent, we don’t do stupid things. |
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Sacking of Harbhajan endorsed Bangalore, July 22 (PTI) — The National Cricket Academy
(nca) today endorsed its Director Hanumanth Singh’s decision sacking three trainees, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik and Nikhil
Haldipur, on grounds of indiscipline. The Nca, headed by Rajsingh
Dungarpur, at a day-long meeting here, also decided to start five zonal academies, at Chennai (south), Mohali (north), Calcutta (east), Kanpur (central) and Mumbai (west), from April 21 next year. Briefing reporters, Dungarpur said the three trainees would not be “entertained” for this semester but did not rule out the possibility of ‘encouraging them in near future.’ The proposed zonal academies would work on the lines of the
nca. “Delhi, a traditional Test centre, has been left out due to inadequate
infrastructure,” Dungarpur said. Around 20 to 30 per cent of the Rs 3 crore budget earmarked for the nca by the bcci had already been spent, he said, adding that the bcci had given the green signal to grant more funds in the near future. Dungarpur said former New Zealand cricketer Sir Richard Hadlee would accompany the team of the New Zealand Academy, touring India from August 24 playing two three-day matches and a one-day match. “Australian wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh, who is nca’s consultant, is very impressed with the progress of the academy here and is keen on taking the nca team to his country.” The proposal was approved today and the academy team will visit Australia next year, he said. On whether the number of trainees at the nca would be increased from the present 24, Dungarpur said: “The 24 figure is manageable for nca (Bangalore) but the zonal centres will have only 20 boys.” |
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US athletes tested positive ‘escaped punishment’ CARL Lewis is boycotting the US Olympic trials to protest what he claims is the continuing cover-up of athletes using banned drugs. The greatest male athlete of all-time has been conspicuous by his absence from the large group of legendary Olympic gold medallists brought to the American Olympic trials in Sacramento by the USA Track & Field, the national governing body of athletics in America. However, Carl has said he would have nothing to do with elite athletics until they stop the cover-up of drugs. “I’ll help youth and the sponsors, be they Nike or General Motors, but, I won’t support the sport until they get rid of the drugs,” he has said. Lewis manager has claimed that he could give six names that were covered up some of those who went on to win medals at the Atlanta Olympics. The protest by the America’s greatest athlete coincides with court action by Wade
Exum, the former director of the US Olympic Committee’s drug control programme. He alleges in a lawsuit filed this week that US athletes tested positive for banned drugs at the 1996 Olympic trials but escaped punishment by the USOC and some went on to win medals at the Atlanta Games. Athletics ‘a true global sport’ Swimming would never overtake athletics as the blue ribbon Olympic sport even though the Games’ track and field programme may be over-shadowed by Australia’s rush for gold in the pool in Sydney. The new president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation Lamine Diack of Senegal said athletics was a true global sport and the Olympics were a world event, factors that would not change just because Australia was obsessed by its expected dominance in swimming. “Athletics may be overshadowed in Australia by swimming but not in the world — in the Olympics the main sport is athletics,” Diack said. “I don’t care if the swimming pool is full (in Sydney). In Australia most of your medals will come from there. You will be more aware of the swimming but it is not like that in the rest of the world. We are taking the Olympics to the world” Diack dismissed concerns about the wind which constantly gusted around the Homebush arena during the national championships in February and may again hamper performances at the Olympic trials next month. “The conditions are the same for all athletes,” he said. Rafter replaces Dawn Fraser Olympic legend Dawn Fraser gracious relinquishment of her torch relay leg at the Sydney Opera House is being seen as an indication that she will play a significant role with the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony. The triple Olympic gold medallist is believed to have accepted her new position on a Sydney street despite a huge SOCOG bungle. Fraser has suddenly decided to drop plans she had to challenge the switch and the Fraser’s gracious move has heightened speculation she will be named to light the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony on September 15. Fraser had received a letter from SOCOG in December stating that she would run the prestigious Opera House leg, which will now be run by tennis star Pat Rafter. She had on Thursday expressed anger at being moved. “You would have thought they would have me run near water. But I’ve been taken away from the water and put on dry land,” the champion swimmer had said. Accusations more of a
complement: Thorpe World champion swimmer Lan Thorpe wants to be the first athlete in the world to provide an official blood sample before the Sydney Olympic Games in a bid to prove his innocence. Thorpe was speaking at the official launch of the Australian Sports Drug Agency True Champion Passport, a document athletes can volunteer to carry that details of their drug tests and results. He produced his new passport, which showed he had been tested 19 times recently (including thrice this year). Thorpe, stung by two recent and unsubstantiated drug slurs from German swim team members, said it would be a great honour for him to be the first athlete blood-tested for the synthetic drug
EPO, which authorities are “very close” to perfecting. “I’ll say it now, I hope that someone will give me the honour to be the first Australian, the (first) Olympian, the first athlete in the world to be able to do a blood test and be able to prove my innocence,” he said. Thorpe said the accusations of drug taking against him were more of a compliment to him and his tough training schedule. Australian Sports Minister Jackie Kelly said a blood test for EPO would be in place by the Olympics. Ms Kelly said the passport was not window-dressing. She said the humiliation for an athlete who applied for a passport and subsequently tested positive would be a major deterrent to cheat. Australian Olympic Committee director and running legend Herb Elliott said the passport raised the ethical and moral bar a little, and was just the start of an educational process to reassure athletes that not everyone is taking drugs. “I talk to athletes all the time and I believe there are some, but not a high number, and the only people who say there are high numbers of cheats are the cheats themselves, “he said. Detention without trial If you are visiting Sydney during the Games, stay out of trouble. Foreign nationals charged with crimes in and around Sydney during the Olympics may have to be detained without trial until the Games end. The shutdown of much of the court system during the Games may result in the detention of some foreign nationals until their cases can be heard. They would not necessarily be held in custody but may be prevented from leaving Australia. During the Games the usual system for prosecuting criminal offences would be suspended as police would be diverted from the country areas to Sydney Olympic duties. It would also be difficult to move court staff, judges and magistrates. Court prosecutors will be on holidays during the Games. Judges will only hear urgent or brief matters. The state opposition party said it would be understandable if Local Court closures were limited to those around Olympic sites, but to insist every court would not operate in September went “beyond the bounds of Olympic necessity”. — PMG |
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