Reynolds’ Appeal of Penalty Is Supported by TAC Panel

Butch Reynolds, world record-holder in the 400 meters, moved one step closer to having his two-year drug suspension overturned Friday when a three-member panel of The Athletics Congress ruled in his favor.

TAC, which governs track and field in the United States, released a statement that said the panel questioned the validity of the test that detected an anabolic steroid in Reynolds’ system after a meet on Aug. 12, 1990, at Monte Carlo.

“This is a relief, a long-awaited one,” Reynolds, 27, said from Columbus, Ohio. “I feel like I’ve just broken another world record.”

TAC will now join Reynolds in presenting his case to the council of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which is scheduled to hear the appeal Nov. 16 at Stuttgart, Germany. If the IAAF upholds the suspension, due to be lifted Aug. 12, 1992, the matter will go before an international arbitrator.

After appealing to the U.S. Olympic Committee last June, Reynolds won a decision from the American Arbitration Assn. that allowed him to compete in the National Championships. Out of condition, he failed to advance past the first round. He then pursued his case with TAC.

Despite testimony supporting the suspension from a leading drug-testing expert, Dr. Manfred Donike of Cologne, Germany, the TAC panel found fault with procedures used in the test at a Paris laboratory.

Reynolds broke a 20-year-old world record on Aug. 17, 1988, when he ran the 400 meters in 43.29 seconds.