USOC to Begin Drug Testing of...

The U.S. Olympic Committee has announced a new $800,000 drug-testing program for the 1988 Olympic team.

The program will begin with testing of athletes at the National Sports Festival in Baton Rouge, La., next month. All medal winners will be tested along with other athletes selected at random.

An athlete who tests positive for banned drugs will be subject to punishment by the governing board for his sport. The USOC said that 20 of the 38 sports governing boards in the United States have agreed to the new program.

“The new program should go a long way in convincing our athletes and coaches that the use of banned substances is a thing of the past,” George Miller, the USOC secretary general said. “We have had more than a year of education for our athletes on the use of these drugs, and the time has come that tests proving positive will result in penalties.”

Outfielder Lonnie Smith, traded from St. Louis to Kansas City last month, says “the American League stinks” and that he wishes he were back with the Cardinals.

“I don’t like the pace of the game (in the American League),” Smith said. “The strike zone is weird. The pitchers are afraid of a challenge. They try to finesse you to death. So you see a lot of junk, and pretty soon you run out of patience and start swinging at it. I’d like to be back in the National League.”

“I didn’t want to leave St. Louis. My wife had to talk me out of retirement. I was really leaning in that direction.”

Chicago Cubs catcher Jody Davis underwent tests as doctors tried to determine the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding that has sidelined him indefinitely.

“He underwent tests today. The bleeding has slowed, but doctors still do not know where it is coming from,” said Ned Colletti, spokesman for the National League ballclub.

Davis, who has been hospitalized since Friday, “will continue to undergo more testing within a day or two,” said Colletti, who would not disclose where Davis was being treated.

In preliminary reports, doctors said they suspected the bleeding was caused by a viral infection and anemia, but Colletti said he did not think the tests had confirmed that diagnosis.

Colletti said he did not know Davis’ condition, or how he was feeling. “I haven’t spoken to him in the last couple of days,” he said, adding that Davis will remain sidelined until doctors can determine and cure his illness.

Sam Randolph of USC and Tom Silva of San Jose State each shot a three-under-par 69 to share the first-round lead in qualifying for the 74th California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach.

Randolph, 20, of Santa Barbara, and Silva, 22, from Santa Clara, both played the Cyprus Point Club and will challenge the Pebble Beach Golf Links today when the split field of 200 players moves into the second round of the 54-hole qualifying period.

Ed Cuff of La Mesa eagled the par-5 second hole and posted a two-under-par 70 to lead the qualifying at Pebble Beach. Also at 70 was Lee Davis of Thousand Oaks, who played Cyprus Point.

Defending champion Duffy Waldorf of Tarzana, the NCAA player of the year for at UCLA, had a 76 at Cyprus Point.

Bobby Chacon’s fight against Arturo Frias at Sacramento has been postponed for a third time after Chacon fractured a rib while training with a sparring partner last Saturday.

Promoters say they hope to reschedule the fight again for August. It was first scheduled last May. Two previous dates were called off because of separate injuries to Chacon and Frias.

In an unrelated matter, Chacon’s scheduled sentencing in Oroville on a wife-beating conviction was also postponed until August.

Monique Berlioux, former executive director of the International Olympic Committee, has been hired by the mayor of Paris to assist in a bid to bring the 1992 Summer Games to Paris.

Berlioux will serve as an adviser to Paris Mayor Jacques Chirar.

Georgetown basketball Coach John Thompson, who has been mentioned as a possible candidate to coach the New Jersey Nets, said that he doesn’t plan to take a job in the National Basketball Assn.

“Without a doubt, without a doubt, I’m going to be here at Georgetown,” Thompson said. “They can’t afford me in the NBA.”