Germany Suspends Krabbe, Two Teammates Over Tests

World sprint champion Katrin Krabbe and two teammates were suspended indefinitely by German track officials on Friday because of what were called suspicious drug tests.

The track federation ordered new tests for performance-enhancing drugs because “the suspicion is so massive that it must be examined once again,” said Manfred Steinbach, a German track official.

Suspended along with Krabbe were Silke Moeller and Grit Breuer. The suspensions cover national and international competition.

Krabbe is in Karlsruhe, Germany, where she was to compete in this weekend’s German Indoor Championships. Track officials said the issue could be resolved as early as today.

Krabbe, 22, won the 100- and 200- meter races at the World Championships in Tokyo last year and is one of Germany’s top hopes for the Barcelona Games. Breuer was a silver medalist at Tokyo in the 400 meters, and Moeller is a former world champion at 100 meters.

The newspaper Bild reported Friday that during a previous test, urine samples from the three women were so similar that they might have come from the same person.

Bild said urine samples were taken from Krabbe, Moeller and Breuer in January while they were training in South Africa. The samples tested negative for banned drugs, but were suspiciously similar in other characteristics, the newspaper reported.

Bild reported that Krabbe vehemently denied using performance-enhancing drugs. She formerly was a member of the East German track team, which was tarnished by drug charges.