Big Ben wasn’t sole cheat, King Carl too was

The Orange County Register reviewed more than 10,000 confidential USOC documents for a story about the committee’s failure to deal with doping issues. WADA head Dick Pound said the documents reinforce what some critics believed all along.

‘‘It’s what many people suspected about the US Olympic Committee, that it was being covered up,’’ he said in a telephone interview from Montreal. ‘‘There were lots of rumours around.’’

The USOC called Exum’s accusations baseless. In October 2000, the USOC handed over drug-testing responsibilities to a new organisation, the US Anti-Doping Agency.

‘‘I find it ironic that Dr Exum was actually running the programme he claims was so flawed,’’ USOC vice-president Frank Marshall said. Exum claimed more than 100 positive drug tests for US athletes who won 19 Olympic medals from 1988-2000, but that many of them were allowed to compete. He said Lewis was among them, testing positive three times for small amounts of banned stimulants found in cold medications at the 1988 Olympic trials.

The USOC first disqualified him, then accepted his appeal on the basis of inadvertent use. Lewis went on to win gold at Seoul in the long jump — and in the 100 metres after Ben Johnson himself was disqualified for using steroids. Pound dismissed the claims of ‘‘inadvertent’’ drug use.

‘‘At the time this happened, Carl Lewis already had four gold medals from the Olympics,’’ he said. ‘‘You know perfectly well you’ve got to be very careful what you take.’’

Pound also criticised USA track and field for its record on performance-enhancing drugs. He said he would like to get all the details from the files.

‘‘The more we know the better it is,’’ Pound said. ‘‘The more the world knows and the US public knows what the USOC was doing, the more likely they are to fix the problem.’’

Lewis, the winner of nine Olympic gold medals and an outspoken critic of doping, could not be reached for comment, but his longtime manager, Joe Douglas, said that Lewis had not taken anything to enhance his performance.

The documents show that Joe Deloach, Lewis’ training partner, tested positive for the same three stimulants as Lewis and was let off for the same reason. He won the 200 metres in Seoul.

Andre Phillips tested positive for pseudoephedrine at the ’88 trials, was cleared on appeal and won the 400-metre hurdles at the Games.

Fernandez tested positive for pseudoephedrine at a professional tournament in Miami early in 1992, but she said it was due to a cold medicine she took beforehand.

She said she passed two drug tests during the Olympics and another after winning gold and bronze medals. ‘‘I’m obviously disappointed that a story like that would come out without any truth to it,’’ Fernandez said.

‘‘I think the doctor is bitter and is lashing out now because he didn’t win his case. I’ve always tried to live an upright and morale life and for something to come out that’s not true is disappointing.’’

Pound pointed out letters purportedly written by then-USOC executive director Baaron Pittenger, advising Lewis, Deloach and Phillips they had tested positive but were being cleared to compete in Seoul.

‘‘It’s got to be pretty embarrassing to the USOC to have their secretary general writing in the letter where he advises an athlete of a positive a sample, ‘I have to send you this, but we already decided this was inadvertent.’’’ Pound said. ‘‘That whole process turned into a joke.’’