IOC, IAAF Review Eligibilty of Two Runners

(ATR) The eligibility of two controversial 400-meter runners who will compete in the World Championships are discussed during a joint meeting of the International Olympic Committee Executive Board and the IAAF Council in Daegu.

Reigning Olympic and world champion LaShawn Merritt of the U.S., who was suspended for taking a banned drug, and Oscar Pistorius of South Africa, who runs on prosthetic legs, are both eligible to compete in the World Championships, which begin Saturday. However, their Olympic eligibility is still up in the air.

Merritt was suspended for 21 months for taking a male enhancement drug. Although the ban was reduced from 24 months, an IOC rule says that any athlete suspended for more than six months is not eligible for the next Olympic Games.

The Merritt case is now before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The hearing has taken place and a decision will be rendered by the end of September.

"The position of the IOC is very clear," President Jacques Rogge said in a press conference following the meeting.

"For us, it's not a matter of sanction, it's a matter of eligibility to be able to participate in the Olympic Games. We think the athlete cannot have been sanctioned for more than six months. There is a disagreement."

Rogge said the CAS decision will have the value of jurisprudence in this case.

Merritt has the backing of the U.S. Olympic Committee in the matter.

IAAF President Lamine Diack said his organization had no input when the IOC made its rule in 2008, and "we suddenly found out there are several problems."

Diack said that even if a sanction is reduced, the minimum is one year, which means any athlete sanctioned is ineligible for the next Olympics.

"The Blade Runner"

Pistorius was initially barred from competing in the World Championships by the IAAF, based on the findings of a consultant who said he had an advantage because of his prosthetics. CAS later ruled Pistorius could take part, and he subsequently ran the qualifying time of 45.07 seconds.

The 400 meters begins Sunday with the heats, followed by semifinals on Monday and finals on Tuesday. Pistorius is not expected to make the final.

Diack said the IAAF has the "possibility to check if his blades remain within the limits of those we have reviewed and looked at two years ago."

The only stipulation the IAAF put on the South African athletics federation was to say that if Pistorius runs on the 4 x 400 meter relay, he must run the first leg. The first leg is run in lanes, and the IAAF does not want to risk Pistorius getting tangled up with other runners.

Diack said the IAAF will monitor how Pistorius fares and "it will be up to us to say next year if he can take part in the Olympic Games or not."

Another question concerns whether Pistorius can take part in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics.

Blood Doping Test in London

Rogge said the IOC is a great proponent of the blood passport, but did not go so far as to say it would be implemented in the 2012 Olympics. "We will absolutely be willing to collaborate with the international federations during the London Games," he said. "The blood passport requires frequent testing on a regular basis."

He added that if blood sampling was done in London, it would be only one in a long series of tests.

On the Same Page

Diack said the meeting between the IOC and IAAF was an "opportunity to take stock of the problems we have in common." The two groups also discussed London, the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and Nanjing and doping problems.

"We had no discrepancies whatever between us," Diack said.

Written and reported in Daegu by Karen Rosen.

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