Track and Field / Randy Harvey : DeBus Speaks Out, Also Has Gotten Out

In various press reports and hearings conducted by two governments, the Los Angeles Track Club’s Chuck DeBus has been portrayed as the Charlie Francis of the United States, an ambitious coach who tried to convince his athletes that they could not be competitive at the international level unless they used anabolic steroids and other banned substances.

DeBus initially denied the charges, then stopped returning telephone calls when The Athletics Congress (TAC), which governs track and field in the United States, announced that it would investigate him. But he broke his silence long enough this week to issue this statement:

“I have coached many American and world-record holders who have never even experimented with banned substances and are willing to step forward and confirm this under penalty of perjury.

“Every coach, including me, has had discussions with athletes concerning the pros and cons of using banned substances. I have never urged any athlete to use banned substances and certainly have never and would never personally provide them to an athlete.

“Of course, I cannot rule out the possibility that some athletes may have taken them on their own when their very human dreams exceeded their God-given abilities.”

The most recent charges appeared eight days ago in USA Today, which quoted Skip Stolley, a coach who has worked with DeBus, as calling his former colleague “Satan with a stopwatch.”

Miler Steve Scott told the newspaper that his brief association with DeBus in 1987 ended after only a few weeks because of the coach’s increasing pressure on him to use drugs. But another former DeBus athlete, 1988 Olympic bronze medalist Kim Gallagher, a half-miler, described the coach as a “good guy and a caring person.”

DeBus previously was implicated in both the Canadian government’s inquiry into drug use by athletes and the steroid hearings conducted by Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.). TAC’s investigation was in response to former DeBus sprinter Diane Williams’ allegation that she used steroids after encouragement from the coach.

Whether TAC determines that DeBus is guilty or innocent, it is not likely to have much impact on DeBus. Even before the allegations, he was spending an increasing amount of time in the television and movie industry.

“I wouldn’t say I’m coaching anybody full time at this point,” he said this week.

The burger war has significantly improved the L.A. track calendar. Promoter Al Franken said Jack in the Box has signed a three-year contract to sponsor his outdoor meet at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

This summer’s meet is scheduled for Aug. 6, two months later than usual. McDonald’s also is sponsoring a meet, the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational, June 10 at UCLA.

“We should get better performers than ever before,” Franken said, noting that his date comes during a three-week break in the European season.

Franken said that Jack in the Box paid “substantially better” than Pepsi, which sponsored the meet for the last 11 years. ESPN will televise the meet.

Also taking advantage of the break in the European season, Fred LeBow, promoter of the New York Marathon, said he will have an outdoor meet July 23 at Columbia University. It will be the first outdoor track meet of any significance in New York since 1966.

The first major meet of the season in the L.A. area, the Mt. SAC Relays at Walnut, is April 22-23. The Santa Monica Track Club has entered an impressive team in Saturday’s 400-meter relay (Carl Lewis, Joe DeLoach, Floyd Heard and Mark Witherspoon) Saturday and an even more impressive team in Sunday’s 800-meter relay (Lewis, DeLoach, Heard and Danny Everett).

Two of the best college dual meets of the season are set for Saturday at Drake Stadium. UCLA’s men and women will be involved in double-duals against Louisiana State and Houston. But the LSU-UCLA men’s match and the LSU-UCLA women’s meet are attracting most of the attention.

UCLA’s men, national champions for the last two years, have won 41 straight dual meets, one short of a school record. They should tie the record with a victory over Houston, but LSU is favored to beat the Bruins. The Tigers and Bruins are about equal at full strength, which UCLA is not because of injuries to quarter-miler Steve Lewis, sprinter Mike Marsh and hurdler Derek Knight.

As for the women, LSU won the national championship last year by three points over the runner-up Bruins. Even though LSU has Dawn Sowell, who set the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. record with a 10.93 in the 100 meters last weekend in the Texas Relays, the Bruins appear marginally better on paper. Also, the controversial firing this week of popular Coach Loren Seagrave might distract the Tigers.

Angela Burnham of Oxnard’s Rio Mesa High School, Track & Field News’ female prep athlete of the year as a junior in 1988, indicated this week that she will announce her college choice today. She said she will choose from among USC, UCLA and Texas.