IN BRIEF : Panel Told of Early Drug Warnings

The Canadian Track and Field Assn. ignored for years repeated warnings from its coaches about drug use among athletes, a top coach said today.

Andy Higgins, head of the University of Toronto track center, told a federal drug inquiry that he and frustrated coaches called a meeting in 1987 with top officials of the nationally funded group and told them that athletes under Coach Charlie Francis were using drugs.

“Nothing happened and nothing had been happening for years,” he testified. “The results we saw in Seoul,” he said, referring to Ben Johnson’s failed drug test and the stripping of his Olympic gold medal.

Higgins agreed with Francis’ earlier testimony that drug use is rampant, saying, “In some disciplines, it’s difficult to win without the use of drugs.”