TAC Lawyer Believes Reynolds Will Run

The Athletics Congress expects a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order allowing suspended sprinter Butch Reynolds to compete in the Olympic trials, a TAC lawyer said Thursday.

If that happens, an appeal will be filed immediately in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, said Peter Alkalay, a lawyer for TAC, the governing body of U.S. track and field.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Kinneary heard arguments Wednesday and is expected to rule at noon today in Columbus, Ohio, whether Reynolds can run Saturday in the Olympic trials at New Orleans.

The 400-meter world record-holder and 1988 Olympic silver medalist was suspended for two years by the International Amateur Athletic Federation in August 1990 when he tested positive for steroids after a meet at Monte Carlo.

The IAAF has said if Reynolds competes at the New Orleans trials, athletes running against him would be suspended. That could cost the Americans a 400-meter team at the Olympics in Barcelona.