May 18, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12, 1429

SAN FRANCISCO, May 17: Former elite athletics coach Trevor Graham is set to go on trial Monday on charges he lied to federal agents investigating the use of steroids. The trial, just three months before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, is being closely watched for more revelations of doping by high-profile athletes.

Graham, the former trainer of champions Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin, was indicted in 2006 on three counts of lying to federal agents in an 2004 interview about his relationship with Angel Heredia.

Heredia, according to court documents, is expected to testify he provided Graham with banned performance-enhancing drugs and also provided similar drugs to several athletes referred by Graham.

Graham has pleaded innocent to the charges and has said he is the victim of an attempt to ruin him. He could face up to 15 years in prison and $750,000 in fines if convicted of all charges.

The 44-year-old Jamaican-born U.S. citizen helped trigger the BALCO doping scandal when in 2003 he anonymously sent the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) a syringe containing the undetectable steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

The scandal has affected athletes in athletics, baseball and American football and led to the sentencing of BALCO founder Victor Conte and four others. More than a dozen athletes have been suspended or disciplined in connection with BALCO.

Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, baseball’s all-time home run leader, also has been indicted in connection with the scandal. He has been charged with 14 counts of making false declarations to a grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice. Bonds has denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Graham’s case is only the second in the scandal to reach a trial by jury. Former Olympic cyclist Tammy Thomas was convicted last month of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Seven athletes coached by Graham, including Olympic 4x400 metres gold medallist Antonio Pettigrew, world 400 metres champion Jerome Young and 1992 Olympic 4x100 metres relay gold medallist Dennis Mitchell, will also testify they were either referred by Graham to Heredia or traveled with Graham to Texas to meet Heredia, according to the court documents.

At least 10 athletes who have trained at some point with Graham, including Jones, Gatlin, Montgomery, Young and Mitchell, have been suspended, or disciplined for doping violations. He also has been barred from using U.S. Olympic Committee facilities.—Reuters