Carl Lewis Doubts Usain Bolt

In a revealing interview with SI.com, American Olympic icon Carl Lewis isn't buying what Usain Bolt's selling when he said, "for someone to run 10.03 one year and 9.69 the next, if you don't question that in a sport that has the reputation it has right now, you're a fool. Period. "

Lewis then went on to praise the best random and most comprehensive drug testing program (the U.S.) and contrast that with Jamaica. "Countries like Jamaica do not have a random program, so they can go months without being tested. I'm not saying anyone is on anything, but everyone needs to be on a level playing field."

Lewis goes on to say, "No one is accusing anyone. But don't live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect. They say, "Oh, we've (the Jamaicans) been great for the sport." No, you have not. No country has had that kind of dominance. I'm not saying they've done anything for certain. I don't know. But how dare anybody feel that there shouldn't be scrutiny, especially in our sport?"

Reflecting on the 9.8 threshold that Bolt surpassed this year. "Let's be real. Let me go through the list: Ben Johnson, Justin Gatlin, Tim Montgomery, Tyson Gay and the two Jamaicans. Six people have run under 9.80 legally, three have tested positive, and one had a year out. Not to say [Bolt] is doing anything, but he's not going to have me saying he's great and then two years later he gets popped. If I don't trust it, what does the public think?"

Lewis addressed one issue I raised in an earlier post questioning when Jamaica became the sprint capitol of the world when he questioned how the women's world 100 champion cannot make the Olympic team. "I look at someone like [Jamaican track star] Veronica Campbell-Brown, who lives in the United States, and has been transparent and consistent. She won the worlds last year in the 100 meters and this year she can't even make the team? And you're going to tell me that shouldn't be questioned?"

Lewis is also not a fan of how admitted cheaters are still able to influence young athletes. "Here's what angers me: Antonio Pettigrew [a North Carolina assistant track coach who testified in federal court that he took human growth hormone and EPO between 1997-2001 while winning the 4x400 relay gold in the 2000 Olympics, a medal he returned in June] kept his job and he's coaching young athletes. This is wrong. There have to be consequences for your actions."

I agree with Lewis that Pettigrew should not be coaching young athletes, especially at a public university. He is an admitted doper and the line of athletes "learning from his mistakes" doesn't fly. Carl Lewis in this interview has done the impossible: by invoking five variations of "not saying anyone is on anything", Lewis essentially said Usain Bolt cheated without saying he cheated! If you're not saying anyone is anything, doubting Bolt's accomplishments and advocating a level playing field, then what the hell are you saying Carl?

You were on the forefront with Ben Johnson, be out on front again...but you have to say it.

Marion Jones Asks President Bush to Commute Sentence

Marion Jones is one of the hundreds of convicted felons who have applied for presidential pardons or sentence commutations from President George W. Bush. She is seeking Bush to commute her six-month prison sentence. The Justice Department will review her application and make a recommendation to the president. A pardon removes a conviction from a person's record while a commutation only reduces or eliminates the person's sentence.

Jones entered a Fort Worth, TX prison on March 7th and is currently serving six months for lying to federal agents about using PED's and her involvement in a fraudulent check writing scam that ensnared the father of her older son (and a former WFM) Tim Montgomery. The check writing scam involved cashing millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged checks.

In January, Jones was sentenced to six months in prison and 400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release. She was sentenced to six months relating to the steroids and two months relating to the check fraud, but allowed to serve both sentences concurrently.

Marion: don't expect W. to do you any favors. You get an "A" for effort, but really what are you thinking? Do you think being a former Olympic hero will grant you a favor with the president? Tonya Harding didn't have the gall to ask for a pardon when President Clinton was leaving office for her role in attacking fellow figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.

The president invoked the evils of steroids in his 2004 State of the Union address when he said, "The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous and it sends the wrong message: that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough and to get rid of steroids now."

Marion: You sent the wrong message that there are shortcuts to accomplishments and now you're looking for W to provide you with another shortcut! For you, performance was more important than character and apparently still is...you did the crime, do the time...all of it. I'd be shocked by your audacity, but shock and awe, when it comes to athletes went away a long time ago when they professed their innocence for years only to be forced to tell the truth...or face a longer jail sentence. Bad play, Marion.

New World's Fastest Man; Let the Speculation Begin

Usain Bolt of Jamaica set the world record in the 100 meters on Saturday and became the World's Fastest Man. As mentioned in an earlier post, WFM is code for roid head. Knowing now what we know about former WFM's, speculation is already swirling around Bolt.

Bolt, like many WFM before him, has denied taking PED's and has not failed a drug test. Skeptics are out on front on this one because Bolt has only run the 100 five times professionally, yet in that span recorded two of the three fastest times ever. Either he truly is the fastest man and will continue to get better, or he is working with new undetectable PED's.

Even with his lack of experience in the 100, Bolt is an accomplished sprinter. He has focused in the past in the 200 meters and was the first junior sprinter to break 20 seconds. At the 2007 world championships, Bolt finished second to Tyson Gay. Ironically enough, Gay, the 2007 world champion in the 100, finished second to Bolt on Saturday with a time of 9.85.

Mary Wittenberg, chief executive of NY Road Runners and race director for the NYC Marathon said, "I think we can believe these performances more than ever before. I think there's a higher level of fear among agents, coaches and athletes than ever before, and I think that is serving us well."

I disagree with Mrs. Wittenberg. Why do athletes use PED's? Because they work. The amount of money involved in becoming the WFM, endorsement deals, gold medals has become so big that the temptation to dope is overwhelming. Does Marion Jones regret cheating? No, she and Tim Montgomery regret getting caught lying to the feds.

When an athlete sees their former heroes shamed and admit to doping, it will only lead them to choose to dope. This naivete to think the controls and fear we have in place are sufficient has led track and field to become a fringe sport where the majority of people who follow it, assume some, if not most, athletes are doping of some kind.

Bolt's coach, Glen Mills, cited Bolt's conscience and the fact that Bolt does not even take vitamin C as reasons why his client is clean. Gay has voluntarily entered into a program where he is being tested regularly to diffuse some of the skepticism of his performance. Gay admited the sport has a credibility issue when he said, "People will have suspicions probably as long as track and field is going on."

Not taking vitamin C does not preclude you from taking an undetectable steroid and being tested regularly could be seen as a pr stunt if Gay is on an undetectable steroid. The cheaters are usually always ahead of the enforcers, but hopefully there are a few clean athletes who mean what they say and years from now don't have the mea culpa in front of the courthouse, but don't hold your breath.

Track Coach Pointed Out

It's rude to point. If you find yourself in court and you're being pointed at, that means you are accussed of doing something wrong.

Trevor Graham was pointed at and identified by two witnesses yesterday who accused the track coach of lying. One witness was Jeff Novitzky, the federal agent who is the face of the BALCO investigation. Novitzky said Graham misled him about his involvement with PED's. "Telling the truth would have helped tremendously. We were really thinking and hoping that Mr. Graham would be the link that would really advance that investigation," Novitzky said.

The other witness to point at Mr. Graham was Angel Guillermo Heredia, who I've posted previously as being a confessed drug distributor who is flying without a net. He has been cooperating with the government since December 2005, but he was not given immunity for testifying. Heredia, by cooperating is trying to minimize any charges against him or a possible deportation following the trial. Bold move Angel; not given immunity and facing possible charges and or deportation, I hope you are being truthful.

Heredia, while on the stand, in stark contrast to Jeff Novitzky, was visibly nervous and was admonished by the judge to limit answers to yes or no on several occasions. Previously Novitzky testified that Graham "had talked to Heredia only once and 'never ever met him in person.'"

Heredia's testimony contradicted this account. Heredia described how Graham and two athletes drove from Raleigh, NC to Laredo, TX in December 1996 to meet Heredia and take a trip to Mexico to acquire drugs. Heredia had pictures to prove that they met. Heredia went on to supply PED's and advice to Graham-coached athletes from that initial meeting until the summer of 2000. The PED's included: steroids, HGH, EPO and other drugs. Heredia testified that the athletes that used the PED's were: Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Jerome Young and Antonio Pettigrew. This was the first time Pettigrew has been implicated in the use of PED's.

During the opening statements of the trial, the game plans of the prosecution and the defense were laid out. The defense was going to try to discredit Heredia and question his motives. The defense also appeared to invoke the sympathy card: portraying Graham as "the original Balco whistle blower" (which he was) and a "convenient scapegoat" for disgruntled former athletes. Graham's lawyer, William P. Keane, also went with the "misspoke" card when he denied ever meeting Heredia.

This is the second case arising from the BALCO investigation to go to trial; eight other people have plead guilty to various crimes while the cyclist Tammy Thomas was found guilty of perjury.

"Graham told agents he had not met Heredia, had not spoken with him on the phone since 1997 and had not taken his drugs for athletes or referred athletes to him."

The prosecution told the jury that the evidence would show Graham referred athletes to Heredia for drugs and they received drugs from Heredia to provide to others. The prosecution also would show the jury records of more than 100 phone calls between the two men and several secretly recorded conversations in 2006.

Trevor, I hope you have that ace up your sleeve, because the way things are playing out right now, you're going to need a lot more than sympathy to get an acquittal. Never met him, but there are photos showing otherwise; never spoke on the phone after 1997, yet the prosecution will show more than 100 phone records and secretly recorded conversations from 2006.

TG, one question, were you getting your legal advice from a disciple of Rusty Hardin? If so, that is money not well spent. You should have played the game most of the other folks wrapped up in BALCO did...plead guilty.

Track & Field Trial Ready to Commence; Expect More Names

Trevor Graham trained a dozen athletes that made it to the Olympics in 2000, when his Sprint Capitol USA training camp in Raleigh, N.C., dominated track and field. The most famous client, Marion Jones, won five medals. In the following years, two of Graham’s most successful athletes, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin, went on to become the World's Fastest Man by setting world records in the 100 meters.

All of those sprinters mentioned and at least seven other Graham clients admitted to using PED's.

Those glory days are long gone as Graham now faces possible jail time on three felony counts of lying to a federal agent. His trial was scheduled to begin today in United States District Court in San Francisco. Several elite athletes are expected to testify against him. It was Graham who also sent the syringe of the Clear to the anti-doping authorities that blew the whistle on BALCO and started this federal investigation.

The charges allege Graham lied about his connections with a confessed drug adviser and distributor, who will be the star witness for the prosecution. I'm sure Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery are looking forward to getting a temporary release from prison in order to testify in this case.

The witness, Angel Guillermo Heredia, 33, has been assisting in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative investigation since 2005, but has no formal cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors and faces the possibility of being charged later.

“When you tell the truth, there’s not anything to be worried about,” Heredia said in a telephone interview Friday. “We’ll see what’s going to happen."

The counts stem from a 2004 interview where Graham was lying. The lies include: denying meeting Heredia in person, talking to him on the telephone after 1997, or distributing drugs and referring athletes to Heredia for drugs. Graham was only charged for lying to a federal agent; there were no drug related offenses.

As part of the evidence, prosecutors have a photograph of Graham and Heredia together, phone records and seven elite athletes who are expected to testify that Graham gave them drugs or sent them to Heredia for drugs.

Graham told The Washington Post last month that his trial would “embarrass the United States, and it’s going to embarrass these athletes” on the eve of another Olympics.

Heredia has already said his drugs helped Maurice Greene and two female sprinters win medals at the 2004 Olympics. He previously showed The New York Times a $10,000 bank transaction from Greene, who has denied the charges and remains an ambassador for track’s international governing body. The other two sprinters have not been publicly identified.

This does not look good for Trevor Graham. It's ironic that the man who brought down BALCO, and in the process started cleaning up sports (to a certain extent) has a good chance of doing time. Photo shop is not a viable defense to combat the picture, but at least the public will find out more track stars were really cheaters as the trial gets under way.

WFM Sentenced to 4 Years for Check Fraud...Not Looking Good for Selling H

A former World's Fastest Man (WFM) has slowed considerably over the years and will be slowing even more after recent events. Tim Montgomery, who set the world record in the 100 meters in 2002 with a time of 9.78 seconds now finds himself sharing a room with pedophiles and murderers. He's currently residing in a Virginia jail.

All of his performances after March 31, 2001, including the world record performance, were wiped from the books, and he was banned from track for two years, for doping linked to the investigation of BALCO. Even though Montgomery never tested positive for drugs, he decided to retire after the ban was imposed.

And on Friday, a federal judge sentenced the former track star to nearly four years in prison for dealing in bad checks. This was the same scheme that currently has Marion Jones serving time and ultimately led her to admit to using PED's.

"The gold medal, all those people cheering, that was part of another world," he said. "In jail, my status is gone."

I would hope your status is gone in jail. What, were you expecting raucous applause when you arrived first in line for breakfast? Your status could be gone for much longer.

Judge Kenneth Karas also warned Montgomery, 33, that the evidence against him "does not appear to be flimsy" in the ongoing case in Virginia, where he is accused of selling heroin. A conviction there would carry a minimum mandatory five-year sentence.

Montgomery told the judge he had let other people run his life, right down to deciding what to eat for breakfast. And his lawyer, Timothy Heaphy, said Montgomery had been led astray by, among others, track superstar Marion Jones.

The check case also ensnared Montgomery's former coach, gold medalist Steve Riddick, and agent, Charles Wells. Both pleaded guilty. All told, this group was planning on depositing $5 million worth of false checks.

But the judge said others were not to blame in the check case.

"`You should commit bank fraud' is not the same as `You should eat Wheaties,"' Karas said. "There is not a single shred of evidence here that this was anyone else's fault."

I agree with the judge on this one here. Whenever it hits the fan, the first thing most people do is look for someone to point the finger at. Tim is pointing the finger at everyone in his circle. Everyone loved you when you were hopped up on roids breaking records and becoming the WFM, but now you need to face the fact that no one put the proverbial gun to your head and made you pass bogus checks or sell $9,000 of heroin. At some point Tim, you have to take responsibility for your actions, all of them.

Former WFM Now Dealing H

No sooner than I shed some light on what The World's Fastest Man is code for, we have a former WFM in the news...for all the wrong reasons.

Tim Montgomery was arrested Wednesday, April 30th, accused of dealing more than 100 grams of heroin in Virginia over the past year. The timing could not be any worse for the sprinter. He is soon to be sentenced in a scheme to cash millions of dollars in stolen or forged checks. Montgomery’s former companion, Marion Jones, is already in the hole serving a six-month prison term for lying to investigators about her role in the check scam and using performance-enhancing drugs.

Tim, I doubt you'll be able to outrun the feds on this one. I don't get what you were you were trying to accomplish by writing bogus checks with Marion: relive the thrill of pulling a fast one on an unsuspecting public similar to what you and Marion accomplished when you were peaking on PED's? But Tim, selling H is too low for a disgraced former WFM to fall. Ben Johnson thinks you've given all the WFM a black eye and is willing to permanently ban you from the club.