Dopey Leadership Must End

The stench wafting over Commonwealth Stadium before the World Outdoor Track and Field Championships--called the “World Games” by a befuddled newscaster in a city trying to pretend it cares--intensified Saturday when another drug cheat got another free pass.

Olga Yegorova of Russia, who tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) July 6 in Paris and was suspended by the International Assn. of Athletic Federations pending a test of a second sample, will be allowed to compete here because the Paris laboratory that tested her urine didn’t also test her blood, as required by International Olympic Committee procedures.

No matter that the sample taken after the Paris race--in which she cut her personal best by nearly 10 seconds--was called “a clear positive” by Arne Ljungqvist, the IAAF’s drug chief. No matter that Gabriela Szabo, the defending Olympic and world champion in the 5,000, threatened to withdraw if Yegorova runs here. “For strictly rules and legal reasons, the IAAF had no other choice but to lift the suspension,” Ljungqvist said.

He said Yegorova’s urine and blood samples will be tested here; the first round of the 5,000 is Thursday and the final is Saturday. But after this slip-up, what credibility does the sport have left?

Szabo, who ran the first heat of the 1,500 Saturday, declined to comment other than to say she will decide whether to boycott the 5,000 after Tuesday’s 1,500 final.

Yegorova proclaimed her innocence. “It is Szabo’s personal decision whether to run the race or not,” she said through a translator. “It has not been proven that I took EPO, so there should be no further questions.”

Before Yegorova arrived, Poland sent home a sprinter and a javelin thrower who tested positive for banned substances at its national championships. China’s delegation includes two athletes coached by Ma Junren, who saw six of his pupils kicked off the Sydney Olympic team because of fears they would test positive for EPO.

There’s a pattern here, and it’s ugly.

In their efforts to run faster, jump higher, throw farther and earn big payoffs, some athletes try drugs such as EPO, which stimulates production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Thanks to some careless officials and others concerned more with protecting their turf than protecting their sport, the cheaters are winning.

Yegorova’s participation reinforces the perception track and field can’t or won’t clean itself up.

Too bad.

When the dirty thrive, the innocent suffer.

New Kind of Hurdle

An attorney representing hurdler Anjanette Kirkland filed a civil suit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the HSI Group and Coach John Smith, accusing Smith of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress during a fracas involving Kirkland and Smith on June 24 in Eugene, Ore.

The district attorney’s office in Eugene did not file criminal charges, citing conflicting witness reports that made it impossible to determine who was at fault when Smith clashed with Kirkland, her mother and her sister in a hotel lobby on the last day of the U.S. championships. Attorney Eric Bates said Kirkland was shaken by the incident, in which she suffered a bloody nose, her sister was knocked unconscious and her mother broke a leg. Smith claims the three women threatened, attacked and scratched him.

The suit asks for $1 million in general damages, plus medical expenses, punitive damages and legal fees.

“She’s not over it, clearly,” Bates said. “In this sport, a significant part is your mental stability and ability to handle stress. It’s tough, not only to be struck yourself but to see your loved ones hurt.”

Kirkland will compete in the 100-meter hurdles Thursday.

Smith’s attorney, Emanuel Hudson, backed his client. “If they want to come at us, tell them to bring it on,” Hudson said. “We have no problem litigating.”

The Great Compromise

With NHL owners opposed to a long midseason Olympic break or to canceling the All-Star sponsor lovefest, Herb Brooks’ hopes of holding a training camp for the U.S. men’s hockey team had little chance of becoming reality.

The four-day orientation session approved by the NHL Players Assn. after passionate lobbying by Brooks, Team Canada executive director Wayne Gretzky and Canada center Mario Lemieux isn’t the best-case scenario, but Brooks accepted it gladly. About 25 players will be invited to an optional camp Sept. 4-7 in Colorado Springs; Team Canada invited 34 players to Calgary the same days.

“We would like to do a little bit more,” Brooks said. “Ideally, the All-Star game would have been a good time, but that idea went by the wayside. The next-best thing would have been the first week of training camp, but the NHL couldn’t release that because training camps are shorter this year.

“The next thing was to hold it right before training camp, but then the [Players Assn.] stepped in and said, ‘You can’t have tryouts.’ Then they said it could only be 48 hours. . . . I thank the PA for reconsidering its position. The players have really been stepping forward and making their voice heard.”

After initially being told coaches couldn’t go on the ice with players who weren’t guaranteed roster spots, Brooks said coaches will be allowed to skate. “We have to do something,” Brooks said of his insistence on having a gathering. “When European teams get onto that big [Olympic-size] ice, it’s like old-home week. We need a period of adjustment.”

Team USA has named 14 players but no goalie, reflecting the uncertainty about Mike Richter’s oft-injured knees and the lack of an obvious alternative. Brooks will continue to monitor goalies in the early weeks of the season, leading up to the Dec. 22 roster deadline.

He also said Chris Chelios was a natural selection to be the team captain.

“Leadership will be important and he’s touched all the bases. He’s done it all,” Brooks said. “He’s a big-play type guy. He’s won the [Stanley] Cup, he’s won the Norris [Trophy] and he reacts well in big-game, big-pressure situations. . . .

“He’s our go-to guy. His signature will be on this team.”

For all concerned, it can’t be the ugly scrawl left behind when several players trashed dorm rooms and woke up fellow athletes in Nagano.

Time to Tumble

After a few months as the national coordinator of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, Martha Karolyi has a realistic view. “I really enjoy it,” she said, “but it is very difficult . . . but very rewarding, too.”

Karolyi will get a better measure of the difficulties--and rewards--when the U.S. Gymnastics championships begin Wednesday in Philadelphia. She has kept a watchful eye at events this spring and summer, hoping Sydney Olympian Tasha Schweikert will progress and set an example for promising youngsters.

“Tasha is the new leader of the team,” Karolyi said during a conference call last week. “She is the only former Olympian. Tasha shows a great maturity and her routine difficulty is up to the level necessary for success at the international level. Around her, we will build the team.”

The top three finishers in the women’s all-around competition will make the U.S. team for the world championships. Karolyi said three more spots will be filled “based on their scores in the specific events and other factors.” For the men, the top four finishers in Philadelphia will qualify for the world competition, with the other two spots determined by a selection committee.

Here and There

U.S. Olympic Committee officials visited Ellis Island, Madison Square Garden and other New York landmarks last week as they resumed their tour of cities bidding for the 2012 Summer Games. The site selection committee’s next stops are Tampa and Los Angeles. Eight cities are competing for USOC approval and, ultimately, to be chosen by the International Olympic Committee. The selection of Beijing over Toronto as host of the 2008 Summer Games could help North American hopefuls for 2012, but if Vancouver wins its bid for the 2010 Winter Games, U.S. cities would have no chance to keep the Games on this continent.

Newly elected International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge will visit the USOC training complex in Colorado Springs on Monday. From there, he will go to Salt Lake City to check on Olympic preparations.

Ice dancers Debbie Koegel and Oleg Fediukov, who were third at the U.S. championships in 1999 and 2000, retired from Olympic-eligible figure skating. Koegel and Fediukov, who plan to marry next year, will perform in exhibitions and teach.

Only 187 days until the Salt Lake City Winter Games.