Expelled pentathlete preparing for fight over drug test

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 30

Expelled pentathlete preparing for fight over drug test

NZPA-AAP Sydney The expelled Olympic pentathlete, Alex Watson, is still in Hong Kong preparing the case he will put to the Australian public following his sacking from the Seoul Games over a positive drug test. Watson, aged 30, from Sydney, became the first Australian to be ousted from the Olympics over drugs after a urine test proved positive to a prohibited amount of caffeine. He packed his bags and left the Games village at dawn and flew to Hong Kong. With him were the team manager, Bob Barrie, the coach, Steve Paul and fellow pentathlete Andrew Keily, who last week lost an appeal against a drugs ban imposed in Europe in June. Watson is now banned from Olympic competition for life but said yesterday he was totally innocent of any wrong doing. “I’ll be fighting this to the end,” he said from the Golden Mile Holiday Inn in Kowloon. "We’re totally stunned by the whole affair — I can’t believe this has happened. “I’ve done nothing wrong. “I’ve been on the phone to Australia taking professional legal advice. In fact, I’m in the process of seeking advice around the world.

“When I’ve done everything here and got my stuff together, I’ll be making a return to Sydney in the very near future. “I want to gather all my information. I’ll be calling a full media conference and will make a clear statement. “There’s a lot more to this than Alex Watson getting banned. There’s a lot of things people don’t know about.” Watson said he believed Mr Barrie had already returned to Australia. Caffeine, a stimulant, showed up in a random test taken on Monday after the fencing section of the five-event modern pentathlon. In the fencing, Watson had to fight 64 times over a 13-hour period. The eight times Australian champion, who finished fifteenth in Los Angeles, led after the equestrian section and was twelfth going into Thursday’s final event, the 4km cross-country run. Watson told officials he blamed the high reading on 12 cups of coffee and several cans of cola he had drunk during the competition. But the explanation did not satisfy the Australian Olympic Federation (A.0.F.) or the International Olympic Committee. In Seoul yesterday, the

A.O.F. said it would extend its investigation into the Watson case. Discussions would be held with the management of Watson’s modern pentathlon team to determine whether anyone else was “knowingly involved” in the incident, said the A.O.F. vice president, John Coates, the manager of the Seoul team. Mr Coates said no evidence had so far emerged that anyone else was involved with Watson’s drug use. He said the pentathlon team management and coaches had been sent home because they were no longer required in Seoul. The Australian Sport Minister, Senator Graham Richardson, said in Seoul yesterday that Watson had done more than just disgrace his team by taking a prohibited drug. “It’s not only the Australian team, all Australians will be pretty disappointed in the athlete, I know I certainly am,” Mr Richardson said. “I would much rather see athletes compete as a result of their training and ability rather than by the selection of a drug by a clever doctor.” He also expressed full confidence in the Australian Olympic management, in particular its attitude to drug taking among athletes.