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US doping agency hopes to finish probe soon
The agency charged with ensuring that US Olympic athletes have not used steroids hopes to complete its review of suspected competitors by next month's track and field trials, its attorney said on Monday. Following criminal indictments against the top two officials at BALCO, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has initiated a review of some athletes linked to the San Francisco area nutritional lab. USADA's reviews are under time pressure as US track and field trials take place July 9-18 in Sacramento, California, for athletes to qualify to go to the August Olympics in Athens. "Our goal ... is for all potential doping violations to be resolved before any competition, and that includes the Olympic Games," said Travis Tygart, USADA's legal affairs director. That description also included the Sacramento trials, he added in an interview. Normally the USADA review can take many weeks, but they could shorten the process if needed, Tygart said. "We do have ... the opportunity to shorten any of the time periods necessary where doing so is reasonably necessary to resolve an athlete's eligibility before a protected competition," he said. Through the US Senate Commerce Committee, USADA has obtained BALCO-related documents but not closed-door grand jury testimony from athletes including track stars Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery and baseball legend Barry Bonds. "We received documents from the Senate Commerce Committee, documents that were seized by the US attorney's office in the BALCO raid," Tygart said, referring to the September 2003 raid of BALCO's Burlingame, California, headquarters. The existence of grand jury testimony and the possibility that a BALCO trial could produce incriminating evidence against top athletes and adds to the pressure of weeding out tainted athletes before the Olympics. "Imagine if the BALCO-associated athletes go to Athens and collectively win 10 medals," said one person familiar with the athletes' grand jury testimony. "After the Olympics are over and during the trial, evidence comes out that some athletes had admitted to using drugs before the grand jury." USADA has said little about their BALCO-related probes, but several athletes have detailed their meetings with USADA. Sprinter Kelli White accepted a two-year suspension last month for using banned drugs after the agency showed her BALCO evidence. Jones as well as Montgomery's lawyer have also met USADA officials. The man at the center of the scandal, indicted BALCO founder Victor Conte, met US prosecutors in San Jose, California, on Thursday to discuss a plea agreement in exchange for help in identifying athletes, but no deal was reached. |
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