High Jumper Fails Drug Test
Cuban high jump great Javier Sotomayor was stripped of his gold medal at the Pan American Games on Wednesday after testing positive for cocaine, the biggest drug scandal to hit track and field since Ben Johnson at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Pan Am officials said it was up to track's international federation, the IAAF, to determine further penalties against Sotomayor, including his eligibility for the Sydney Olympics. They said they would not make a recommendation on a punishment.
Although all sports have prescribed drug penalties, they are not always applied on recreational drugs that are not taken to enhance performance.
He is the third athlete, all gold medalists, and the second high jumper to test positive at these games.
Steve Vezina, goalie for Canada's in-line roller hockey team, was caught using Nandrolone, costing the team its gold medal. Juana Rosario Arrendel, winner of the women's high jump and the only gold medalist from the Dominican Republic at the games so far, was stripped of her medal for using stanozolol.
In addition, ray martinez, a member of Mexico's baseball team, refused to take a drug test, which was tantamount to a positive test.
Cuba's medical officials at the Pan Am Games scheduled a news conference for later Wednesday.
Sotomayor was seen in Cuba on Tuesday night at a rally for the gold medal-winning baseball team and stood beside President Fidel Castro.
On Friday, Sotomayor became the first person to win four Pan Am track and field titles in the same event Friday when he cleared 7-6½.
Sotomayor, considered Cuba's most popular athlete, won the 1992 Olympic gold medal, the 1993 and 1997 world outdoor championships, and the 1989, 1993, 1995 and 1999 world indoor championships.
He was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1988-89, 1992-95 and 1997-98.
It was a further embarrassment to Cuba's team at the Pan Am games. Eight Cubans have left the delegation, including one journalist, with authorities saying at least seven plan to defect.
The finding against Sotomayor marked the biggest scandal in track and field since Johnson was stripped of his 100-meter gold medal and world record in Seoul for using the performance-enhancing drug stanozolol.
Johnson later returned to competition, but he again tested positive for drugs in 1993 and was suspended for life. He is appealing that second ban and has asked for reinstatement by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. The IAAF Council will meet at Seville, Spain, on Aug. 17 to decide the case.
Sotomayor's case was the third involving big-name track athletes in the past two days.
On Tuesday, Dennis Mitchell, the U.S. 100-meter champion and 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, was banned for two years by the IAAF after a drug test showed high levels of testosterone. Earlier Wednesday, Britain's Linford Christie, 1992 Olympic 100-meter gold medalist, was suspended by the IAAF after drug test showed the possible presence of Nandrolone. Christie insisted he was innocent and intends to defend himself against the charges.
Sotomayor assured his place in sports history by soaring 8 feet at the Central American Championships at San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 29, 1989. He improved that record to 8-0½ at Salamanca, Spain, on July 27, 1993.
He set the world indoor record of 7-11½ on March 4, 1989. He has cleared 7-8½ a record 88 times and 7-10½ a record 21 times.
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