Defying a world sports boycott and jeopardizing...

Defying a world sports boycott and jeopardizing their international careers, 12 American track and field athletes, including discus throwers Carol Cady and John Powell, arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, to compete in three meets against South Africans.

The meets, Oct. 15, 18, and 22, will mark the first major international track and field competitions in South Africa since 1976, when the country was expelled from the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing body of the sport. The country was banned for its government’s policy of apartheid or racial segregation.

South African newspapers said competing athletes will be paid a total of about $2 million.

Also competing are Tom Hintnaus (pole vault), Dave Laut (shot put), Tyrus Jefferson (long jump), James Robinson (800 meters), Ray Wicksell (5,000 meters), Milan Stewart (110 meter hurdles), Kevin Adkins (long jump), James Andrews (sprints), Cedric Gilder (110 meter hurdles) and Keith Thidideaux (400 and 800 meters).