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IOC Promises Rigorous Testing

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 11, 2008

LONDON - The competition on the track, in the pool and on the playing fields won't be the only place where medals are won and lost at the Beijing Games.

The perennial battle between doping cheats and drug-testers will be more intense, as Olympic officials strive to protect the Games' integrity following a slew of scandals that have tarnished the sports world in recent weeks and months.

The International Olympic Committee promises to carry out the most rigorous and comprehensive anti-doping program in sports history, with hundreds of more tests, increased out-of-competition checks and enhanced controls for EPO and human growth hormone.

The IOC also is ready to act on intelligence and tip-offs to target suspected cheaters and ask Chinese law enforcement authorities to go after any suppliers or organized drug gangs.

"They know that we mean business," IOC president Jacques Rogge said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Athletes know that we are going to chase them. Finding a hiding place is becoming more and more difficult."

The IOC plans to conduct 4,500 doping controls in Beijing, up from 3,600 in Athens four years ago and 90 percent more than in Sydney in 2000. Rogge said the program includes more than 700 blood tests, including 400 for HGH.

The testing period begins with the opening of the Olympic village July 27.

Less than a week after failing to qualify for an individual event at the U.S. swimming trials, Olympian Erik Vendt filed a countersuit Thursday against a California company that claims he broke his contract by choosing to wear a rival swimsuit.

Vendt made his own breach-of-contract claims against TYR Sport in the federal lawsuit filed in California. He also sued the company for slander, alleging that comments made by its attorney, Larry Hilton, have cost the swimmer other endorsement deals.

TYR went to federal court in May with an antitrust case that claims USA Swimming has been working with Speedo to ensure all Americans wear that company's LZR Racer suit at the Beijing Olympics, even if they have deals with other companies such as TYR.

Also named in the suit were U.S. head coach and general manager Mark Schubert, who has openly touted the benefits of the Speedo suit while also working as a paid spokesman for the company, and Vendt, who had an endorsement deal with TYR but switched to the LZR Racer this year.

At last week's trials in Omaha, Neb., Vendt said the lawsuit had taken a toll on his training and preparation. He was favored to claim one of two spots in the 1,500-meter freestyle, but struggled to fourth place in the final with a time more than 17 seconds slower than what he swam in the preliminaries.

Vendt did earn a spot in his third Olympics as a possible prelims swimmer in the 800 freestyle relay.

Catchings Included As Final Women's Hoops Roster Is Announced

NEW YORK - Tamika Catchings, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Kara Lawson are going to play ball in Beijing.

The WNBA stars have earned the final three spots on the U.S. women's basketball team going to the Olympics.

Catchings would have been among the original nine picks in May had she not been slow to recover after tearing her right Achilles' tendon in September. She started all eight games in Athens on the gold medal-winning 2004 Olympic team, averaging 6.9 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Catchings returned from her injury June 15 and has averaged 10.0 points for the Indiana Fever this season.

Milton-Jones, the former University of Florida standout, will bolster an already strong front court that features three-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles.

Amber Neben, who missed the 2004 Athens Games after a positive drug test and feared her quest for a trip to Beijing was doomed when she was diagnosed with skin cancer nine months ago, was among the final three women chosen Thursday to the U.S. Olympic cycling team.

Neben and Christine Thorburn were added to the road team; Mary McConneloug was picked as the second selection to the mountain bike roster. Thorburn and McConneloug were Olympians in 2004, when Neben was trying to erase the sting of a six-month suspension that stemmed from her use of a tainted supplement.

But Thursday, after losing a stage of the Giro D'Italia by one second, Neben got the ultimate pick-me-up - her Olympic call.

"I am so excited," Neben told The Associated Press by phone from Italy. "I really am so excited. It's been really difficult waiting. In my heart and in my head, I just thought there was no way they couldn't take me. But at the same time, until you actually know, you can't really believe it. I have my faith and I trusted the Lord and it happened."

SOCCER: Two German clubs must send their Brazilian players to the Beijing Olympics, FIFA ruled Thursday.

Werder Bremen had refused to release Diego, a 23-year-old midfielder, and Schalke wanted to keep its 22-year-old defender Rafinha at home. The German clubs said the Beijing Games in August conflict with the start of the European season.

World football's governing body responded by restating its rule obliging clubs to release players 23 or under "in view of the importance of the Olympic Tournament for the entire sporting movement in general and football in particular."

"The release of players younger than 23 has always been mandatory for all clubs," FIFA said in a statement.

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