The International Association of Athletics Federations is gearing up for quick action in American sprinter Jerome Young's controversial five-year-doping case, after the United States federation agreed to cooperate.
In a letter to the United States Olympic Committee Sunday, USA Track and Field officials acknowledged for the first time that Young was the athlete in question in the case, and agreed to hand over key documents. The USOC had been unhappy the U.S. Track and Field federation previously refused to turn over details in the case, citing confidentiality rules.
Young, who denied committing any doping offense, tested positive for steroids in 1999. But he was exonerated on appeal, avoiding a two-year ban which would have kept him out of the Olympics. The move to hand over documents clears the way for track and field's world governing body to challenge the appeals ruling in arbitration. Young is the current world 400-meter champion. He ran in the opening heat and semifinal round, as the Americans won the gold medal in the men's 4X400-meter relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Young and the other members of the relay team could all lose their medals.
IAAF vice president and anti-doping chief Arne Ljungqvist said the case will be examined by the his organization's doping review board. If the panel determines Young was improperly cleared, the matter will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne for a final, binding verdict. Both sides hope to resolve the case before the Athens Olympics begin on August 13.