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Taoufik Makhloufi,Algeria'sstar middle-distance runner, is back in the London Olympics after originally being expelled for not providing a "bona fide effort" in a preliminary heat of the 800 meters. Early reports indicated that the Algerian team forgot to pull Makhloufi out of the 800 so that he could save his energy for his specialty, the 1,500 meters. Makhloufi had qualified for Tuesday's 1,500 final and was considered a possible medal contender. He won his semifinal heat Sunday in 3 minutes 42.24 seconds.

Taoufik Makhloufi,Algeria'sstar middle-distance runner, is back in the London Olympics after originally being expelled for not providing a "bona fide effort" in a preliminary heat of the 800 meters. Early reports indicated that the Algerian team forgot to pull Makhloufi out of the 800 so that he could save his energy for his specialty, the 1,500 meters. Makhloufi had qualified for Tuesday's 1,500 final and was considered a possible medal contender. He won his semifinal heat Sunday in 3 minutes 42.24 seconds.

Concerning Butch Reynolds: As an environmental engineer, I call for a quarantine on the term contamination as applied to track and field athletes of any nation. Only toxic materials can cause contamination, unless, of course, you consider the IAAF a cancerous disease. CATHY FITZGERALD Los Angeles

Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee South African "Blade Runner," is set for an unprecedented Olympic debut Saturday in the 400-meter qualifying heats. When the starter's gun goes off, it will be a shot heard throughout the sports world and a watershed event for legions of disabled athletes. To get there, he ran a tortuous course of legal proceedings with the International Assn. of Athletic Federations. Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic gold medalist, was forced to challenge a recent IAAF rule that forbids lower-extremity "spring" assist units.

Swiss runner Sandra Gasser has filed an appeal with track's governing body seeking to overturn sanctions imposed after she failed a test for steroids at the world track championships, a Swiss sports official said Thursday. The International Amateur Athletic Federation on Sept. 29 banned Gasser for two years from competition and revoked her bronze medal in the women's 1,500 meters at the World Track and Field Championships last summer in Rome.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation promised today to impose sanctions against the coach and doctor who administered Ben Johnson's steroid program. Federation President Primo Nebiolo said once the IAAF is in possession of the report from the Canadian government inquiry into drug use by athletes, punitive action will be taken against Coach Charlie Francis and Dr. Jamie Astaphan. The IAAF decided Tuesday to strip Johnson of his 100-meter world record set in Rome.

U.S. sprinter Crystal Cox was stripped of the gold medal she won as part of the 1,600-meter relay team in the 2004 Athens Olympics, though the International Olympic Committee held off making a decision on whether to disqualify the American team. Cox, who admitted in 2010 to using anabolic steroids, accepted a four-year suspension by the IOC's executive board on Saturday while her results from 2001 to 2004 were disqualified. She ran in only the preliminaries at the Athens Games. Sanya Richards, Dee Dee Trotter, Monique Henderson and Monique Hennegan ran in the final for the U.S. IOC officials said it is up to the governing body of track, the International Assn.

* Aug. 12, 1990--Reynolds tests positive for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, at Herculis '90 meet in Monte Carlo. * June 10, 1991--Reynolds wins in USOC arbitration, with American Arbitration Assn. hearing the case. This allows him to compete in U.S. Championships at New York. The IAAF threatens to ban the U.S. team from the World Championships in August. Reynolds runs, but does not make the team. IAAF backs down on threat. * Oct.

Keleke Metaferia, proclaiming he wants to follow in the footsteps of the late Olympic champion Abebe Bikila, led an Ethiopian sweep in the IAAF men's World Marathon Cup through the streets of Milan, Italy. Bikila, an Ethiopian army officer, won Olympic marathon titles in 1960 and 1964. The 20-year-old Metaferia, who finished in 2 hours 10 minutes 28 seconds, won his first marathon on his third attempt, edging teammate Dereje Nedi by eight seconds.

The current head of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission, acting as part of worldwide track and field's executive council in a meeting at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, declared that the U.S. Olympic Committee had properly cleared Carl Lewis and others after investigating elevated findings at tests earlier that year, the minutes of that meeting reveal.

U.S. sprinter Crystal Cox was stripped of the gold medal she won as part of the 1,600-meter relay team in the 2004 Athens Olympics, though the International Olympic Committee held off making a decision on whether to disqualify the American team. Cox, who admitted in 2010 to using anabolic steroids, accepted a four-year suspension by the IOC's executive board on Saturday while her results from 2001 to 2004 were disqualified. She ran in only the preliminaries at the Athens Games. Sanya Richards, Dee Dee Trotter, Monique Henderson and Monique Hennegan ran in the final for the U.S. IOC officials said it is up to the governing body of track, the International Assn.

American sprinters who were stripped of their 2000 Olympics relay medals because teammate Marion Jones was doping won an appeal Friday to have them restored. The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Geneva ruled in favor of the women, who had appealed the International Olympic Committee's decision to disqualify them from the Sydney Games. The court said the IOC and International Assn. of Athletics Federations rules in 2000 did not allow entire teams to be disqualified because of doping by one athlete.

Caster Semenya of South Africa was cleared to immediately return to track by the sport's governing body Tuesday, ending an 11-month layoff while she underwent gender tests after becoming the 800-meter world champion. Semenya is allowed to keep running as a woman, although it is unclear if she has had any medical procedure or treatment during her time away. She could return to competition at the world junior championships in Moncton, New Brunswick, starting July 19. The International Assn.

South Africa's minister for women and children has filed a complaint with the United Nations over how Caster Semenya's case was handled. Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya says the international athletics governing body failed to safeguard the confidentiality of the runner whose sex has been questioned. She says they showed "blatant disregard" for Semenya's "human dignity." The complaint made Monday asks the UN Division for the Advancement of Women to investigate the matter.

As South African runner Caster Semenya returned home Tuesday to a hero's welcome, President Jacob Zuma chastised the International Assn. of Athletics Federations over gender tests carried out on the athlete and declared there was no way she would be stripped of her gold medal in the women's 800-meter world championship. Thousands of people came to celebrate the 18-year-old Semenya's return at O.R. Tambo International Airport -- and to vent their anger at what they see as her ill treatment.

Track and field's world governing body is investigating the coach of sprinter Justin Gatlin for alleged doping violations. The International Assn. of Athletics Federations said Thursday the probe into the activities of Trevor Graham will be carried out in conjunction with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. At least six athletes who trained under Graham have received doping suspensions. Graham, however, has always denied direct knowledge or involvement with drug use.

Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee South African "Blade Runner," is set for an unprecedented Olympic debut Saturday in the 400-meter qualifying heats. When the starter's gun goes off, it will be a shot heard throughout the sports world and a watershed event for legions of disabled athletes. To get there, he ran a tortuous course of legal proceedings with the International Assn. of Athletic Federations. Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic gold medalist, was forced to challenge a recent IAAF rule that forbids lower-extremity "spring" assist units.

According to Randy Harvey in his recent piece on Kelli White, "White Because Kelli was ranked third and fourth in the world in the 200 meters in 2001 and 2002 (and 10th in the 100 in 2001), and a bronze medalist in the 2001 world championships in the 200, and on our gold-medal winning team in the 400 relay, I'm assuming that Mr. Harvey considers Marion Jones the only outstanding sprinter in the world. I resent Mr. Harvey's insinuation that Kelli's performances are the result of drug use. I have no idea if she was anything but negligent in her not mentioning the use of an unbanned drug to the IAAF, but because of track and field's commitment to stop drug use (unlike other sports)

Torri Edwards, expected to contend for a medal in the 100- and 200-meter sprints at the Summer Olympics, instead faces a two-year suspension after a positive test for the banned stimulant nikethamide. Track and field's worldwide governing body, the International Assn. of Athletics Federations, on Thursday imposed the ban. An IAAF official on Friday declined to comment. The decision was forwarded to U.S. authorities and now must be reviewed by a U.S.-based arbitration panel.

Saying the matter presented exceptional circumstances, an arbitration panel on Thursday referred U.S. sprinter Torri Edwards' case involving the use of a stimulant to track and field's worldwide governing body. After a hearing this week, the panel referred the issues to the International Assn. of Athletics Federations, which will have to decide whether Edwards will remain eligible for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which begin Aug. 13.