Year Later, Myricks Is Ready : Track and field: His suspension for testing positive for stimulant will end today.

On the subject of what he lost during his one-year suspension from competition, four-time Olympic long jumper Larry Myricks didn’t know where to begin.

Was it the estimated $140,000 in income?

How about the friends who deserted him, the damage to his reputation?

Could it include his loss of status in a sport that has dominated most of his life?

No. The newly philosophical Myricks, whose suspension will end today, has chosen to view his banishment from the sport in terms of what he gained:

--A new perspective in which track and field does not define his life.

--Ample time to give his body rest and recuperation.

--Incentive.

So he finds himself at 35, a year removed from his sport, ready to make a comeback. Myricks, who was the long jump bronze medalist in the 1988 Olympic Games and the world indoor champion in 1987 and ‘89, has missed the competition but not the controversy.

Myricks tested positive for phenylpropanolamine, a banned stimulant, at three meets last year--on Jan. 12, Feb. 23 and Feb. 27. According to international rules regarding stimulants, in the first instance of a positive test the athlete is suspended for three months, in the second for two years and in the third for life.

Myricks received a life suspension that was subject to appeal.

Myricks, who lives in Upland, has denied he took any drugs for their stimulant effect. He said that at the time of the tests he had taken an over-the-counter medication to combat flu symptoms. The medication contains phenylpropanolamine.

His case was an unusual one in that no one denies Myricks tested positive three times. The case turned on notification. Myricks had tested positive three times, over a period of five weeks, before he was ever notified of the first positive test. He argued that this delay in notification of the first positive test prevented him from changing to medication that might have prevented the two subsequent tests from being positive.

Myricks said the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing body for track and field, sent a letter to The Athletics Congress supporting his claim and suggested that the U.S. body view the entire affair as one positive test, meaning a three-month suspension.

A TAC panel eventually shortened the suspension to one year. The decision was made last November, without comment.

Except from Myricks, who is still bewildered by the process. Myricks said he is not feuding with TAC, despite spending $20,000 to sue the group. He has dropped the lawsuit.

“They did not like the fact that I chose to go public,” he said. “They did not like the fact that I sued. I found out that as a TAC athlete I have no rights, none. A lot of athletes are really afraid of TAC. To be really honest, I don’t really care what (TAC officials) think of me.”

From Myricks, this is not a vengeful statement. Indeed, he appears serene and confident. The confidence may be born of the knowledge that, after achieving a No. 2 world ranking in 1989, Myricks might well pick up where he left off.

“The long jump is about the same,” he said. “No one has come up and really impressed. I’d say it’s relatively unchanged. “

Myricks noted that Carl Lewis and Mike Powell are still the leaders in the event.

Myricks will run a relay today in a meet at Las Vegas, then return to long jumping next weekend in the Mt. SAC Relays, where he will renew his rivalry with Powell.

Myricks has planned the bulk of his season for Europe, where appearance fees are higher and there is more bonus money for record performances. His strategy: “I won’t be a mercenary, but I won’t let the grass grow under my feet, either.”

He acknowledges that at first he might not jump up to his personal standards and that his age may work against him. But Myricks does not concede a centimeter to his competitors in an event that is often won by such a small distance.

“It’s most important for me to compete well,” he said. “If I go out there and compete well, and I’m second or third, it’s not going to bother me. That’s not to say I don’t want to win the national championship or the world championship. But I also want to jump well.”

That is all part of the new perspective. Myricks, who is to be married June 1, said he has learned the importance of family and friends, all those who stood by him during a difficult and ugly year.

“The whole thing was crazy and pretty senseless,” Myricks said. “It was all brought about by a careless mistake, one I could have avoided. I put a lot of close friends and family through a lot of unnecessary heartache. I owe them all an apology.”