U.S. Briefs -- Armstrong Drug Tests Online, Concussion Research, New Complaint for USOC Manners in Beijing

Lance Armstrong last won the Tour de France in 2005. (Getty Images)Armstrong Returns to the Rod

Accompanied by persistent drug rumors as he won an unprecedented seven straight Tour de France titles, Lance Armstrong has enlisted a top anti-doping expert to prove to the world that he's clean in his return to competition.

Armstrong, who retired three years ago, will ride for Astana, a Kazakh-based pro cycling team. He'll have his own personal out-of-competition testing agent: Don Catlin, who ran the Los Angeles anti-doping lab for a quarter century and was in charge of drug testing at the Atlanta Olympics.

Catlin has the authority to test Armstrong at any time and any place and will then post the results online where the public can access them. He'll be paid by Astana, which has had its own cycling scandal and was barred from this year's Tour de France.

Although athletes like swimmer Dara Torres and sprinter Allyson Felix have agreed to enhanced urine and blood testing by USADA to prove they're clean and establish biomarkers, Armstrong is taking testing to an unheard-of level.

"I think it's the first time an athlete can actually be totally validated on the chance he's successful," Armstrong said in announcing his comeback a week after his 37th birthday. "In my opinion, Don Catlin is beyond reproach."

Catlin founded Anti-Doping Research, a nonprofit organization that researches performance-enhancing drugs to develop means of detecting previously unknown ways to cheat.

Armstrong didn't go into the specifics of the testing, but said he believes it will be "the most advanced anti-doping program in the world."

"I'm going to talk about it today; beyond today," he said. "I'm not going to tell you how clean I am, and I'm not going to insinuate how dirty the others are. I'm going to ride my bike, I'm going to spread this message (about the fight against cancer) around the world, and Don Catlin can tell you if I'm clean or not."

Armstrong Crusade Against Cancer

Armstrong, who beat testicular cancer to become the most dominant cyclist in the world, said the impetus behind his comeback is raising awareness about the disease. He'll race in January at the Tour Down Under in Australia. He thinks more could be done in Australia to thwart melanoma.

Armstrong competed in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, winning the bronze medal in Sydney in the individual time trial.

Modern Pentathlete Eli Bremer placed 23 in Beijing. (Getty Images)Aims Barbs at USOC

U.S. modern pentathlon Olympian Eli Bremer has charged some members of the USOC staff, including sport performance chief Steve Roush, with practicing hostility towards athletes.

Bremer told the Los Angeles Times that the USOC should review its sport performance and sports partnership division "to see if massive personnel changes are needed to effect a cultural change."

Bremer's comments echo those of the four cyclists involved in the mask-wearing controversy at the Beijing Olympics. They received an apology from the USOC for its handling of the situation, but complained that the USOC did not publicly address what they termed mistreatment by Roush and Kelly Skinner of the sports partnership division.

Bremer spoke with Roush this week, the Times said, about theU.S. Modern Pentathlon Federation, which is now managed by the USOC.

"Steve was immediately hostile when I started discussing the state of my sport," Bremer said in notes he took of the meeting. "Steve threatened me with legal action over my statements about the USOC's actions in its management of modern pentathlon."

Roush told the Times in an e-mail that he promised to work with Bremer to "clear up any misunderstanding or miscommunication."

Olympians Donate Brains for Concussion Research

Olympic gold medalists Jenny Thompson Cindy Parlow in the 2004 Olympics preliminaries. (Getty Images)(swimming) and Cindy Parlow (football) are two of 16 pro athletes who have agreed to donate their brains after they die to aid research into concussions.

Thompson won 12 Olympic medals -- including eight golds -- from 1992 to 2004 and retired to pursue a medical degree at Columbia University. She is currently working as an anesthesiologist in Boston.

Parlow won gold medals in 1996 and 2004 and a silver in 2000. She cited post-concussion syndrome as a reason for retiring from international play in 2006.

Six former NFL players have also agreed to help researchers.

They will bequeath their brains to the new Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, a joint program between the Boston University School of Medicine and Sports Legacy Institute.

Written by Karen Rosen

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