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IAAF denies cover-up claims
10/12/2003 12:15 - (SA)
London - The IAAF ridiculed accusations by former shot put champion CJ Hunter that officials promised to suppress news of his positive drug tests if he feigned an injury and withdrew from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Istvan Gyulai, secretary general of the International Association of Athletics Federations, said Tuesday that Hunter was "feeble minded" if he thought there was any offer of a deal from IAAF officials during a meeting they had with Hunter shortly before the 2000 Games.
Hunter, the former husband of Olympic star Marion Jones, told the San Jose Mercury News that IAAF officials told him to "say you got an injury and you can't compete in the Olympics" because they wanted to avoid a drug scandal just before the Sydney Games.
In exchange, Hunter said, he was told to drop out of the Olympics and asked not to challenge his positive test for the steroid nandrolone. Hunter did drop out of the Sydney Games, but the former shot putter continues to insist he never took that steroid.
Gyulai said he and another IAAF official met with Hunter in Belgium to tell the United States athlete he had to drop out of the Olympics because of four positive drug tests. The officials agreed not to immediately release news of the positive tests, in keeping with standard IAAF procedures.
"When he learned about that, he burst out crying and begging, 'Please don't tell my wife.' I felt sorry for him, he was like a child," Gyulai said. "He decided not to compete and we applied our procedures."
- AP
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