Johnson returns tarnished gold

By John Powers, Globe Staff  |  June 3, 2008

Even though he hasn't been asked to and probably wouldn't have to, Michael Johnson says he's returning the gold medal he won anchoring the tainted 4 x 400 relay in the 2000 Games.

"I know that the medal was not fairly won and that it is dirty," Johnson writes in today's Daily Telegraph in London. "So difficult as it is, I will be returning it to the International Olympic Committee because I don't want it. I feel cheated, betrayed, and let down."

When Antonio Pettigrew admitted recently during the Trevor Graham trial that he'd been doping during that time, it meant that, except for Johnson, everyone who ran on that relay, including twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison and Jerome Young, either has acknowledged taking or been banned for using drugs.

Still, Johnson might have been able to keep his medal, since the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in the Young case that the rules in force at the time didn't provide for revoking teammates' medals, as they do now. The gold medal was the fifth and final of Johnson's career, which spanned three Games.

Gatlin not out yet

Olympic champion Justin Gatlin may get to defend his 100-meter title after all if the CAS rules his way Friday. Gatlin, who is midway through a four-year ban for a second doping offense, says his 2001 positive test shouldn't count since he was taking a prescribed drug for attention deficit disorder.

If the CAS agrees, Gatlin would be reinstated in time for the Beijing trials in Eugene, Ore., at the end of the month.

Gatlin, who was given a suspension of up to eight years after testing positive for testosterone in 2006, had it cut to four this year by the US Anti-Doping Agency and he'd already served two as of last month. If the initial offense is discarded, the 2006 suspension likely would be reduced to two years and he'd be good to go. That would set up an epic showdown with world champ Tyson Gay in Eugene.

Quick change?

Now that the Jamaicans have the world's two fastest humans in Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, maybe they finally can end their Olympic jinx. Jamaica never has won the men's 100 meters at the Games and hasn't medaled since Don Quarrie finished second to Trinidad and Tobago's Hasely Crawford in 1976. Bolt, whose 9.72 Saturday at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York shaved .02 seconds off Powell's global mark, has history going against him. Since the international federation went to full automatic timing to the hundredth after 1976, only one man (Maurice Greene in 2000) won the Olympics after going in as world record-holder. (Canada's Ben Johnson was stripped of both distinctions after being caught doping in 1988.) World champions have a better record; they've won four of the last six Olympic gold medals, if you include Carl Lewis's retroactive titles in 1987/88. That augurs well for Gay, who went double gold (100, 200) at last year's global meet in Japan . . . Kara Goucher checked off one of the two Olympic track and field musts last weekend, running a 31:26.48 in a special 10,000-meter race in Oregon to easily better the A qualifying standard. Now, all the world medalist has to do is finish in the top three at the trials, which could be a challenge if Shalane Flanagan and Deena Kastor, the present and former US record-holders, opt to run in the event. Kastor already has made the marathon team, though, and Flanagan might choose the 5,000. "I think the trials will be fast enough," Goucher reckons, "but I don't want to worry about a time."

Looking ahead

Chicago easily should make the cut tomorrow when the International Olympic Committee reduces the field of seven bidders for the 2016 Summer Games. The Windy City, which has one of the best technical packages with its compact, downtown-focused venues, is one of the top contenders along with Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro. Also in the mix are Prague, Doha (Qatar), and Baku (Azerbaijan). The Lords will name the host at their session in October next year in Copenhagen . . . While Iraq's Olympic participation is up in the air after the government dissolved the national committee, its soccer team got a break when the international federation gave it a conditional go-ahead to keep playing in World Cup qualifying. The Iraqis, who were last year's surprise Asian victors but didn't qualify for the Games, face a tough haul, though - they're in last place in their group after losing at Australia last weekend and have to play all their home matches in Qatar. The IOC will talk about the overall situation when its executive board meets this week in Athens . . . The list isn't final, but US modern pentathlete Sheila Taormina appears to have made her fourth Olympic team in her third sport. Taormina, who didn't take up the swim-shoot-ride-fence-run quintet until three years ago, joins teenager Margaux Isaksen on the women's team based on international rankings, while Eli Bremer, who was 12th at last weekend's world championships in Budapest, is the sole male. Taormina, who won a swimming relay gold in 1996, was a triathlete in 2000 and 2004.

Three spots left

What holes are the selectors looking to fill with the final three spots on the US Olympic women's basketball roster? "We're hoping to add a tough defensive stopper on the perimeter who can also score for us, and at least another post player," says committee chair Renee Brown. Complicating the choice is the iffy status of Tamika Catchings, who tore her right Achilles' tendon last September, and three-time Olympian Sheryl Swoopes, who is recovering from a back injury. So far, the squad is split between Olympic veterans (three-timer Lisa Leslie, two-timer Katie Smith, and Athens gold medalists Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Tina Thompson) and newcomers (Candace Parker, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, and Cappie Pondexter) . . . The US men's team will play a couple of tuneups in Shanghai during the week before the Games, taking on the Australians (and Bucks 7-footer Andrew Bogut) and the rising Russians . . . Although he won't be training at full throttle until after this month's Olympic gymnastics trials, Paul Hamm is ahead of schedule in his rehab. Two days after surgery for his broken right hand (a plate and nine screws), the Olympic champ was making a fist. As long as he projects to be able to hit his usual routines by August, Hamm is almost certain to be granted a place on the Beijing team.

Court reporting

With the ranking deadline coming up Monday, the US Olympic tennis team is pretty well set: Venus and Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Ashley Harkleroad, and doubles specialist Liezel Huber on the women's side; James Blake, Sam Querrey, Robby Ginepri, and doubles partners Mike and Bob Bryan on the men's. Bypassing Beijing to prepare for the US Open are Athens runner-up Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick. Venus won gold in singles and doubles (with Serena) in 2000, while Davenport won in 1996 . . . The Chinese rowers dropped an impressive calling card at last weekend's World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, winning four of the six women's races plus the men's lightweight four. China, which hasn't won an Olympic medal in the sport since 1996, has targeted rowing as a likely place to collect a handful and has made notable (and eyebrow-raising) strides over the past several years under former US and Soviet coach Igor Grinko, taking three women's medals at last year's world regatta. The US flotilla also had a strong showing in Lucerne with six medals, including golds by the women's eight and the men's quad, which shocked three-time world champion Poland for the first American victory in the event at an overseas Cup. "We're painting targets on our backs now," said Sam Stitt, who with Matt Hughes is passing up a chance to row the double at the Games. Earning Olympic tickets at the regatta, unless they opt to try for different boats, were the pair of Caroline Lind and Elle Logan of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and the double of Ellen Tomek and Megan Kalmoe.

Open and shut

US open water swimmer Chloe Sutton, who needed only finish in the top 15 to earn her Olympic ticket, took no chances last weekend. The 16-year-old, who has claimed two domestic titles at the 10-kilometer distance, won the last-chance qualifier in Beijing by more than a half-minute. She joins Mark Warkentin as the American entrants in the newest event on the aquatics program . . . It took 17 qualifying events, but Jill Kintner nailed down the one women's Olympic spot for the United States by finishing sixth in last weekend's BMX cycling world championships in China, edging roommate Arielle Martin by 1 point after trailing by 13 coming into the competition.

Material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews, and wire services was used in this report.