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| September 1, 2003 | Monday | Rajab 3, 1424 |
France clinch two golds on dramatic day
PARIS, Aug 31: Former European champion Christine Arron anchored France to their second gold medal of the evening on Saturday with a scorching final leg in the world women’s 4x100 metres relay final.
Heptathlete silver medallist Eunice Barber had earlier sent the packed crowd at the Stade de France into a frenzy with victory for ths host country in the women’s long jump.
On a dramatic eighth day of the world championships, the United States pulled Kelli White off the relay team after the double world sprint champion tested positive for a stimulant.
In her absence, 100 metres silver medallist Torri Edwards ran the final leg for the Americans but could not hold off Arron in the straight.
White, the first American woman to win the world 100-200 double, tested positive after Sunday’s 100 metres final for modafinil, a drug used to treat attention disorder or sleepiness, which will not be on the banned list until next year.
A statement from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said White could run in the relay final but her name was not included in the team list issued by USA Track & Field.
IAAF vice-president Arne Ljungqvist told a news conference that modafinil was clearly related to substances on the present banned list, which is also an offence.
Ljungqvist, who is head of the International Olympic Committee’s medical commission, said it was likely the drug would have still been in White’s system when she won the 200.
If modafinil is considered to be similar to ephedrine, a mild stimulant, White faces a warning and disqualification. She could be banned for two years as well as losing her medals if the drug is regarded to be similar to amphetamines.
Ljungqvist said White had neither declared she was taking modafinil nor sought an exemption.
The furore surrounding White’s test could not have helped morale in the U.S. team.
The men’s sprinters finished out of the medals in the individual 100, and after Jerome Young had won the 400 metres title the Los Angeles Times said he had tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in 1999 but was cleared to compete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Almost overlooked in the excitement on and off the track, Tirunesh Dibaba wrote the latest chapter in the Ethiopian success story with an unexpected win the in the women’s 5,000.
The 18-year-old world junior cross country champion denied her team mate Berhane Adere an unprecedented 5,000-10,000 double.
Dibaba won a tactical race in 14 minutes 51.72 seconds with 10,000 metres gold medallist Adere in 10th place.
Ethiopia are now third in the medals table with three golds, two silvers and a bronze. Their great African rivals Kenya have collected just one silver and a bronze.—Reuters
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