Karnaugh Loses Bid to Oust Burgess

The Ron Karnaugh-Greg Burgess matter was resolved Friday in Atlanta when the American Arbitration Assn. assigned Burgess to 80 hours of community service for a minor alcohol-related offense in March instead of dismissing him from the Olympic team.

Karnaugh had requested disciplinary action against his rival Burgess, who will represent the United States in the 200-meter individual medley at Atlanta. Had Burgess been dismissed for violating the U.S. Olympic Committee’s code of conduct, Karnaugh, the top alternate, would have taken his place.

Among those present during the 8 1/2-hour hearing were Burgess, his attorney, Hank Coxe III, and his coach, Gregg Troy. Karnaugh was present with his manager, Bennett Raffer.

“We never set our sights on getting him kicked off the team,” Raffer said. “We had set our sights on making the Olympic Committee issue a penalty.

“We wanted a ruling that said, ‘It’s the law, and you [USOC] are not above the law.’ ”