THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 9 : Notes : Two More Weightlifters Fail Their Drug Tests; Overall Total Reaches 6

Two more weightlifters were disqualified from the Olympic Games Sunday for failing drug tests.

Kalman Csengeri of Hungary and Fernando Mariaca of Spain failed urine tests administered by the International Olympic Committee’s Medical Commission, which found traces of banned drugs in their system.

Csengeri, who competed in the 165-pound class, was discovered to have used an anabolic steroid. Mariaca, in the 148 1/2-pound class, was found to have used an amphetamine.

Neither of the athletes won medals, although Mariaca competed in the same weight class as Anguel Guenchev of Bulgaria, the gold medalist whose medal was taken away Saturday after he tested positive for a diuretic.

Diuretics, which dilute urine samples, also can be used to mask the use of other illegal drugs.

The expulsions were ordered a day after the Bulgarian delegation pulled its weightlifting team from the Games because of a drug scandal. Mitko Grablev had previously lost a gold medal because of the presence of a diuretic in his urine.

In Grablev’s case, the International Weightlifting Federation added a 2-year suspension. Officials said it was expected to do the same for Guenchev, besides disallowing his world records.

In all, six athletes have tested positive for drugs at the Games, and another--Swedish weightlifter John Christensen--was sent home before competing because a previously administered test revealed a banned substance.

In a related development, Alex Watson, a 30-year-old modern pentathlon athlete from Australia, was suspended from the Games for testing positive to an excessive amount of caffeine. He accused a Romanian official of spiking his drinks.

Watson accused the official, whom he did not name, of conducting a vendetta against him for 2 years because of Watson’s anti-drug stand and his insistence that there is corruption in the sport.

The IOC had announced earlier Saturday that Jorge Quesada of Spain had been expelled from the Games after a positive test for a drug aimed at steadying his shooting hand Wednesday in the marksmanship portion of the modern pentathlon.

Quesada finished 33rd overall among 65 competitors in the 5-day event, which also includes riding, swimming, fencing and running.

The International Olympic Committee also announced a “strong warning” to Spanish team doctors. Spokeswoman Michele Verdier told reporters that from the IOC Medical Commission’s hearings on the weightlifter’s case, “it appeared that this drug had been given directly by the team doctors.”

Rafael Hernandez, in charge of accommodations in the Spanish delegation, said: “Sometimes the boys are wrong and take things that they shouldn’t. He took it just to relax himself 2 days ago. He admitted it. We have to be understanding. Why sanction him?”

South Korean newspapers and politicians criticized foreign media for what they claimed was distorted coverage of South Korea during the Olympics.

In commentaries Saturday, major Seoul newspapers accused U.S. and Japanese media of being “cross-eyed.”

They were particularly upset over the coverage of South Korean boxing officials assaulting a New Zealand referee Thursday after the referee had awarded a victory to a Bulgarian boxer over local favorite Byun Jong Il.

The Joong Ang News Daily said NBC repeatedly played scenes of the referee being attacked. It charged that the network has concentrated on the negative aspects of South Korean society in its overall coverage.

The Chosun Ilbo said: “In introductions of Seoul, NBC had often played up our dark side, such as slums, dirty marketplaces and dog-meat restaurants.”

A government official, Son Ju Hwan, was quoted as saying: “NBC has played up the negative side of our nation, and if the trend continues that will stir more anti-U.S. feeling.”

Some government officials and newspapers also criticized Japanese newspapers for exaggerating the danger of attacks by Japanese Red Army members during the Olympics.

Sneaker-to-sneaker traffic: Traffic has not been a major problem in Seoul since the beginning of the Games. But the women’s marathon, which began and ended Friday at the Olympic Stadium, caused quite a snarl.

Wide boulevards around the stadium, which is part of the Seoul Sports Complex, already were congested, with normal workday traffic swelled by cars, buses and cabs headed for various Olympic venues and the nearby main press center.

When the streets, many of them lined with spectators, were closed for the runners, traffic backed up, horns sounded and people on the sidewalks pushed and shoved to make their way through.

Police, who had been courteous and smiling up to that point, turned serious and, in some cases, threatening before the runners passed, the streets opened up and things got back to normal.

The race took only about 2 1/2 hours, but the traffic tie-up started about an hour before the race began and took about 2 hours afterward to clear.

Brother, can you spare a gold medal? Officials at the men’s gymnastic competition scurried for the combination to a locked suitcase when they suddenly had to come up with two extra gold medals because of a 3-way tie in the pommel horse event.

Only one of the medals was engraved with the name of the event on the bottom edge. That one went to Bulgarian gymnast Lubomir Gueraskov. Zsolt Borkai of Hungary and Dmitri Bilozerchev of the Soviet Union received generic gold medals.

“We’ll have to take it to the engraver,” said Borkai’s coach, Dezso Bordan.

In the interest of balance, the scoreboard listed Bilozerchev first, Borkai second and Gueraskov last, but the Bulgarian anthem played first, followed by the Soviet and Hungarian national songs.

Olympic officials also have spare silver and bronze medals in case of ties.

Ordinary South Korean citizens are sending gifts ranging from embroidered cushions to hopes for peace and Korean wine to the Olympic Village for distribution to athletes and Olympic officials.

Confucian scholar Shin Bong-woo, 80, made 160 “sticks of peace” for chairmen of all national Olympic committees.

Village administrators said other items among 9,314 gifts received thus far include letters, poetry, books, fans, apples and flower vases.

Big man, high hopes: Bruce Baumgartner of Edinboro, Pa., is the largest of America’s medal hopes in the freestyle wrestling tournament. The 6-foot 2-inch, 265-pound Baumgartner is favored here to win in the 286-pound class.

His strength and quickness have been drawing attention from some unexpected quarters for a long time.

When Baumgartner graduated from Indiana State University in 1982, he received several calls from National Football League teams that wanted to sign him as a free agent. Those calls were surprising, because the 1982 National Collegiate Athletic Assn. heavyweight champion had not played college football.

Baumgartner decided to forgo football and stick with his wrestling career, which now includes gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the 1986 World Championships, the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1987 Pan American Games.