The ruling body of the International Amateur...
The ruling body of the International Amateur Athletic Federation voted unanimously to recommend a rule change that would allow pro football players Renaldo Nehemiah and Willie Gault to compete in all track events, including the Olympics.
The IAAF council’s proposal will go before the IAAF Congress later this year at Stuttgart, West Germany.
Nehemiah is the world record-holder in the men’s 110-meter hurdles at 12.93 seconds. Gault is ninth on the all-time list for the event with 13.26 and also won a gold medal at the 1983 world championships with the U.S. 400-meter relay team.
Finnish long-distance runner Martti Vainio, who had been suspended for doping, was reinstated, but four other athletes were suspended for life for doping violations. The four are javelin thrower Duncan Attwood and shotputter Augie Wolf, both of the United States, and discus throwers Ahmed Kamiel Shata of Egypt and Nicolaos Yendekos of Greece.
Attwood, Shata and Yendekos were all found to have been using anabolic steroids. Wolf was banned for refusing to take a dope test.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.