Lift of Myricks’ Long-Jump Ban Urged : Track and field: A panel has recommended reinstating the Olympic medal winner who was barred for life after testing positive for a stimulant.

Long-jumper Larry Myricks, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time world indoor champion, could be back in competition next year after being banned for life for testing positive for a stimulant.

A three-member reinstatement panel of The Athletics Congress recommended today that Myricks be reinstated as of April 13, 1991.

“They could have made that decision a long time ago,” Myricks said by telephone from his home in Upland.

The reinstatement panel of The Athletics Congress’ National Athletics Board of Review consisted of Curtis Stitt of Columbus, Ohio; Rose Monday of El Segundo and John Knight of Ashland, Ore.

It conducted a hearing Nov. 13 and notified the national governing body today that it would recommend Myricks’ reinstatement as of April 13. The date marks the one-year anniversary of Myricks’ original three-month suspension.

Myricks, 34, a four-time Olympian and the 1979 World Cup winner, tested positive Feb. 24 for phenylpropanolomine, a stimulant, at the U.S. Indoor Championships in New York. Subsequently, it was announced he tested positive for the same substance at meets in Hamilton, Ontario, on Jan. 12 and at Seville, Spain, on Feb. 27.

A panel from The Athletics Congress declared Myricks ineligible for three months beginning April 13, based on the positive test in New York.

Rather than go through the hearing process for the Hamilton and Seville tests, Myricks asked to apply directly for reinstatement.

Penalties for stimulant positives include a three-month ban for a first offense, a two-year ban for a second offense and a lifetime ban for a third positive test.

Myricks has been suspended pending the outcome of his appeal for reinstatement.

The recommendation now goes before The Athletics Congress’ 18-member Executive Committee, which will meet at Seattle next Monday, the day before the opening of the organization’s annual convention.

“Now, we will have to wait and see what the Executive Committee does,” Myricks said.

In a letter to The Athletics Congress, the panel said there was “good cause to grant the reinstatement request” and that reinstatement “would not be contrary to the bylaws” of the foundation, the national governing body for track and field, or the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing organization.

“They haven’t come full circle yet,” Myricks said of his appeal for reinstatement. That decision will come next week.