SPORTS : Athletes Punished for S. Africa Visit

Discus thrower John Powell, a two-time Olympic bronze medal winner and an assistant track coach at Stanford, was suspended for six years today by The Athletics Congress for participating in a tour of South Africa last October, and three other Olympians were suspended for four years each.

In a hearing before TAC’s National Board of Athletics Review, the four were barred from national and international competition. All had previously received indefinite suspensions. The others suspended were Carol Cady, American record-holder in the women’s discus and a 1988 Olympian; Ruth Wysocki, a 1984 Olympian in the women’s 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters, and James Robinson, a 1976 Olympian in the men’s 800 meters. Powell won his Olympic medals at the 1976 and 1984 Games.