The Athletic Congress Organization

Carl Lewis and three Santa Monica Track Club teammates will not compete in a European meet this weekend between the United States, the Soviet Union, West Germany and Great Britain. British officials in Birmingham, England, said they were barred by The Athletics Congress, but TAC official Pete Cava said the TAC had no power to bar anyone from a meet on British soil. Cava said the British promoters had to choose between the officially sanctioned U.S. team or the sprinters. Lewis and the others--Olympic 200-meter champion Joe DeLoach, Danny Everett and Floyd Heard--had planned to try to break the world record in the 800 relay Friday and Saturday.

Ollan Cassell's status with The Athletics Congress will be the leading item on the agenda today in a meeting in Denver of the U.S. track and field governing body's executive committee. After hearing a report from a subcommittee formed earlier this year to evaluate Cassell, executive director for all 14 years of the organization's existence, the 22-member executive committee is expected to vote on whether to recommend to TAC's board of directors that his contract be renewed next March.

The Athletics Congress, sensitive about published reports that it was banning athletes for taking cold medicines, Thursday defended its drug-testing procedures. In a 1 1/2-hour conference call with members of the media, TAC officials said, in essence, athletes' ignorance of banned substances, even in common over-the-counter medicines, is not a legitimate excuse. Three world-class athletes--Larry Myricks, Greg Foster and Antonio McKay--have been suspended this year for three months.

Ollan Cassell's status with The Athletics Congress will be the leading item on the agenda today in a meeting in Denver of the U.S. track and field governing body's executive committee. After hearing a report from a subcommittee formed earlier this year to evaluate Cassell, executive director for all 14 years of the organization's existence, the 22-member executive committee is expected to vote on whether to recommend to TAC's board of directors that his contract be renewed next March.

Saying there is "general concern of the athletes about the integrity of the sport of track and field," the Athletes Advisory Committee of The Athletics Congress held an emergency meeting in suburban Washington and Friday released a position paper that called for an independent investigation of the drug problem in U.S. track and field. The meeting was prompted by recent allegations by sprinter Darrell Robinson that some top American athletes have used performance-enhancing drugs.

The Athletics Congress drug net widened Friday night as Larry Myricks, the 34-year-old world class long jumper, was suspended for three months, April 13-July 13, for taking Alka-Seltzer Cold Plus. The action follows by one day the suspension of hurdler Greg Foster for the same offense. Myricks tested positive at the TAC indoor championships Feb. 23 in New York. He told TAC officials that he was taking the medication to combat flu symptoms he says persist.

In response to track star Willie Banks' allegations in Wednesday's editions of The Times that The Athletics Congress might rig his drug test at the Olympic trials, TAC said Thursday in Indianapolis that it would ask Banks to produce evidence of drug-test rigging. Banks, the world record-holder in the triple jump and a vice president of TAC, had said: "There's a distinct possibility that TAC could rig the drug testing, even though I've never even thought of taking drugs."

The Athletics Congress, sensitive about published reports that it was banning athletes for taking cold medicines, Thursday defended its drug-testing procedures. In a 1 1/2-hour conference call with members of the media, TAC officials said, in essence, athletes' ignorance of banned substances, even in common over-the-counter medicines, is not a legitimate excuse. Three world-class athletes--Larry Myricks, Greg Foster and Antonio McKay--have been suspended this year for three months.

The Athletics Congress drug net widened Friday night as Larry Myricks, the 34-year-old world class long jumper, was suspended for three months, April 13-July 13, for taking Alka-Seltzer Cold Plus. The action follows by one day the suspension of hurdler Greg Foster for the same offense. Myricks tested positive at the TAC indoor championships Feb. 23 in New York. He told TAC officials that he was taking the medication to combat flu symptoms he says persist.

Saying there is "general concern of the athletes about the integrity of the sport of track and field," the Athletes Advisory Committee of The Athletics Congress held an emergency meeting in suburban Washington and Friday released a position paper that called for an independent investigation of the drug problem in U.S. track and field. The meeting was prompted by recent allegations by sprinter Darrell Robinson that some top American athletes have used performance-enhancing drugs.

Emerging from amid the tumult a week after allegations of drug use among top U.S. athletes, there is this one simple update: Everyone involved is exploring legal options. A week ago, Stern, a West German news magazine, published an article in which a 400-meter runner identified several U.S. athletes as having bought or used banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Carl Lewis and three Santa Monica Track Club teammates will not compete in a European meet this weekend between the United States, the Soviet Union, West Germany and Great Britain. British officials in Birmingham, England, said they were barred by The Athletics Congress, but TAC official Pete Cava said the TAC had no power to bar anyone from a meet on British soil. Cava said the British promoters had to choose between the officially sanctioned U.S. team or the sprinters. Lewis and the others--Olympic 200-meter champion Joe DeLoach, Danny Everett and Floyd Heard--had planned to try to break the world record in the 800 relay Friday and Saturday.

Emerging from amid the tumult a week after allegations of drug use among top U.S. athletes, there is this one simple update: Everyone involved is exploring legal options. A week ago, Stern, a West German news magazine, published an article in which a 400-meter runner identified several U.S. athletes as having bought or used banned performance-enhancing drugs.

In response to track star Willie Banks' allegations in Wednesday's editions of The Times that The Athletics Congress might rig his drug test at the Olympic trials, TAC said Thursday in Indianapolis that it would ask Banks to produce evidence of drug-test rigging. Banks, the world record-holder in the triple jump and a vice president of TAC, had said: "There's a distinct possibility that TAC could rig the drug testing, even though I've never even thought of taking drugs."