| | Associated Press
HAVANA -- Javier Sotomayor, the only high jumper to clear 8
feet, will seek a review of the drug suspension that will cost him
a shot at the Olympics.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Sotomayor said
Thursday he had no plans to retire despite the suspension handed
down Tuesday by the International Amateur Athletic Federation,
track and field's world governing body.
Sotomayor tested positive for cocaine at last year's Pan
American Games at Winnipeg and was banned until July 31, 2001.
"I'm going to continue training, and if they don't let me go to
Sydney, I'm thinking of preparing for the World Championships in
Edmonton in 2001 to win there," he said at his home.
Sotomayor said he was "very bothered," by the decision and
didn't think that the IAAF had taken into account the arguments
that he and Cuban sports officials had presented to declare his
innocence.
Cuban authorities have insisted that Sotomayor's urine samples
were manipulated after he tested positive and officials stripped
him of his Pan Am Games gold medal.
"Modesty aside, I am one of the symbols of Cuban sports, and
aside from me personally, this hurt Cuban sports," he said. "This
was the object of all of this. I have been used."
Sotomayor said he wasn't daunted by the fight that lay ahead to
seek to review the ruling. Cuba can take the case to the IAAF
Council and ask for a revision.
"I am going to continue fighting, and with the president of the
Cuban athletic federation, Alberto Juantorena -- himself a member of
the IAAF Council -- we will seek a revision of the judgment,"
Sotomayor said.
"I will never give up because I know I am innocent and I
believe that at one moment justice will be served."
The IAAF ruling barred Sotomayor from competing internationally.
The 1992 Olympic champion missed last year's World Championships,
claiming he had a herniated disc.
In 1996, competing with an inflamed knee, Sotomayor qualified
for the Olympic final but cleared only one height and finished
tied for 11th. | |
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