USOC Wants IOC Intervention in Doping Case; Swimmers Banned for London 2012

Sprinter’s Eligibility Demands Clarity, USOC Chief Says

The USOC wants to know whether a doping ban that expires in 2011 will sideline Olympic 400m champion LaShawn Merritt for the 2012 Games.

The uncertainty surrounding the sprinter’s eligibility is unfair, says USOC CEO Scott Blackmun, and the IOC should intervene to decide whether he can defend his title in London.

"We have an arbitration decision that says we have to let Mr. Merritt compete in the Olympic trials, but if he competes in the Olympic trials and secures a spot, the IOC has said he is not eligible to compete in the Olympic Games," Blackmun told reporters Tuesday at the Reuters Global Media Summit.

"My hope is that we can get the IOC together with WADA and the other involved parties and get some decision sooner rather than later, so that our athletes don't have all that uncertainty the next two years."

The American Arbitration Association slapped Merritt with a 21-month ban in October, down from the International Association of Athletics Federations’ two-year standard but still long enough to sideline him for the Olympics unless the IOC goes against precedent.

"The rule states very clearly that any athlete sanctioned for six months or more will be banned from participation in the next edition of the Games," IOC communications director Mark Adams told Reuters at the time of the ban.

According to Reuters, the arbitrators said this rule violates WADA’s code, but the IOC said its policy is not under the jurisdiction of the arbitrators.

Merritt’s eligibility will return next July, just in time for the IAAF world championships in Daegu, South Korea and a year before London 2012 opens.

Swimmers Slapped with Doping Bans

Whereabouts violations will sideline a pair of swimmers for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The international aquatics federation FINA recently announced the decisions made early last month by its three-man doping panel.

Evgeny Aleshin of Russia and Lukasz Giminski of Poland each failed to make themselves available for drug testing three times within an 18-month period.

Their two-year bans are the maximum allowed under the World Anti-Doping Code for such violations.

Aleshin, 21, retired from competitive swimming prior to FINA’s announcement.

Giminski, 24, will return to eligibility Nov. 6, 2012.

The doping panel ordered the swimming federations of Russia and Poland to bear the cases’ costs.

Dutch NOC Taps Future Heineken House

London landmark Alexandra Palace is poised to become party central during the 2012 Olympics.

The Netherlands Olympic Committee announced Wednesday the venue will be its Heineken House, a designation long afforded the Dutch team’s rambunctious Games-time headquarters.

The palace’s 10,000-capacity Great Hall will host athletes and VIPs as well as members of the public for a small entry fee. The future beer hall will also serve traditional Dutch cuisine.

"Dutch visitors will undoubtedly enjoy its stunning panoramic views of London’s best-loved landmarks old and new," Alexandra Palace managing director Rebecca Kane told The Daily Mirror.

Wednesday’s announcement marks the latest booking by a national Olympic committee of a high-profile, high-demand entertainment venue for its London 2012 Olympic House.

Somerset House will be the epicenter of all things Brazil during the Games, Germany will call the Museum of London home and the French Olympic Committee will wine and dine guests at former fish market Old Billingsgate.

Written by Matthew Grayson.