US accused of cover-up

The United States were today plunged into a new drugs cover-up controversy in athletics.

Their newest world champion, Jerome Young, who won the 400 metres here in Paris last night, had his moment of glory tarnished when it was revealed he was the American who had failed a drugs test before the Sydney Olympics but was still allowed to compete at the Games and win gold there.

The news will put further question marks over the conduct of the world's most powerful track nation after it was revealed earlier this year that Carl Lewis, their greatest athlete, won gold in the 100m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after a positive drugs test was kept quiet by the US authorities.

Though the International Association of Athletics Federations, which today dismissed the matter as "history", seems certain not to reopen the case, the revelation will fuel old suspicions about US coverups. American track officials had appeared to cover up the name, to the fury of the IAAF.

Today, though, the Los Angeles Times revealed that Young had tested positive for a banned steroid in 1999, an offence which would normally carry a two-year ban. Yet he was still cleared to run for the US in Sydney the following year just before the Games started. He was awarded his gold as part of the winning 4 x 400m relay squad.

The 27-year-old Jamaican-born athlete was a surprise world champion yesterday. Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, told the LA Times: "It does far more than cast doubt on the legitimacy of the medals (won by the relay men in Sydney). It totally destroys it."

Young was suspended in April 2000 after testing positive for nandrolone the previous year but his name was blacked out on the suspension document. The US Track and Field federation argued it was not required to report his name to the IAAF and let him run in the Olympic trials just a week after it cleared him on appeal.

International officials were furious that the details of his case had not been flagged to them earlier. Thirteen US athletes who failed drug tests from 1996-2000 have still not been named.