Reynolds’ Suspension Extended to End of ’92 : Track and field: World record-holder is not allowed to return after two years because he competed while sanctioned.

Quarter-miler Butch Reynolds’ suspension, scheduled to end today on the two-year anniversary of his positive drug test for an anabolic steroid, has been extended until the end of the year by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

The IAAF, which governs track and field, took the action in an extraordinary meeting of its council here Monday. The IAAF’s chief of staff, Enrico Jacomini, said Reynolds violated a rule against competing while under suspension.

Reynolds, the world record-holder in the 400 meters from Columbus, Ohio, lost appeals to the IAAF to have his suspension lifted in time to compete in the Summer Olympics, but a court order allowed him to run in three meets in the United States, including the Olympic trials.

Although he earned a berth on the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team, he could not compete here. His request for accreditation was rejected by the organizing committee because he was not recognized by the IAAF as an eligible athlete.

“The case of Reynolds is very sad for us because you must understand that we don’t want to be a police federation,” IAAF President Primo Nebiolo said Monday.

“He has been (tested). He has been found positive. We don’t have any doubts about the (testing). But he has taken some steps that are not acceptable. So now we have decided to prolong his disqualification until the end of the year.

“Our decision is without doubt a good decision. We regret it, but we had to prolong it because his attitude during the period of disqualification was not respectful and did not respect our rules.”

Besides the court action that allowed him to run in the United States, Reynolds has filed a $12.5-million lawsuit against the IAAF in a U.S. District Court in Columbus.

“I’m innocent,” Reynolds said Monday at a news conference in Columbus. “When I’m innocent, I can find no other alternative but to fight. They picked the wrong guy to make a mistake on because I will fight until Butch Reynolds is off this earth.”

Reynolds had planned to return to competition on the post-Olympic European track and field circuit. His agent, Brad Hunt, said earlier this summer that the promoter of the prestigious meet at Zurich, Switzerland, next Monday had reserved a lane for Reynolds. He set his world record of 43.29 seconds in 1988 at Zurich.

Hunt said the IAAF should be condemned for threatening an athlete who is only “exercising his rights as a citizen of this country.”

Nevertheless, the threat of continued punishment beyond the two-year suspension has been carried out.

“This season is almost over,” Jacomini said. “We wanted to make our decision a gesture, not a punishment. It is a warning for all athletes in the future that our rules have to be respected.”