Pedroso Record In Long Jump May Blow Away Track Body Agrees To Study Videotapes For Wind Evidence

Ernico Jacomini, Italian delegate to IAAF congress GOTEBORG, Sweden Ivan Pedroso’s long jump world record remained in doubt two days before the World Championships Wednesday when track officials agreed to look at video evidence that could show it may have been wind assisted.

IAAF officials said they would watch the tapes to see if someone had stood in front of a windmeasure so that the speed appeared legal at the time the Cuban leaped 29 feet, 4-3/4 inches at a meet in Sestriere, Italy, on Saturday.

The Italian federation has asked for the official judge sheet and has acquired two videotapes of the jump made by amateurs which could provide more clues to the case, said Enrico Jacomini, an Italian delegate to the IAAF congress.

“The judge sheets are all in order,” Jacomini said. “The videos are being flown here and they will arrive late today (Wednesday). We will view them and then turn them over to the IAAF.

“This is a technical controversy and it has to be studied by the IAAF experts. We have no such competence.”

General secretary Istvan Gyulai said the IAAF did not ask for the videotapes, but will look at them when they are turned over by the Italians.

“We like to have genuine records,” Gyulai said.

The IAAF’s technical committee will review the tapes before recommending whether the record should be ratified.

Pedroso made the record jump on his sixth and last try. The effort broke the mark of 29-4-1/2 by Mike Powell of the United States in 1991.

Meanwhile, two leading sprinters, Daniel Effiong of Nigeria and Donovan Powell of Jamaica, were suspended for flunking drug tests and will miss the upcoming World Championships.

Effiong and Powell failed tests at national championships and were suspended pending hearings, Gyulai said.

Effiong, who has been among the top sprinters in the world over the past few years, faces a four-year ban, while Powell is likely to get a three-month suspension, Gyulai said.

The Nigerian tested positive for methyltestosterone, an anabolic steroid, at the national championships June 16.

Powell faces a three-month ban after testing positive for ephedrine, a stimulant, at the Jamaican national championships June 23.

Powell set a personal best of 10.07 seconds for the 100 meters this year and was ranked eighth in the world before the championships.

Effiong’s personal best of 9.98 came in 1993. His best this season was 10.17.

Together with Olapiade Adeniken, Effiong formed the core of Nigeria’s 400 relay team and was expected to do well in this year’s championships.

To no one’s surprise, the IAAF Congress gave its chairman, Primo Nebiolo, another four-year term as head of the sport’s world governing body. Nebiolo was unopposed and was re-elected by acclamation by more than 400 delegates attending.

Nebiolo, 72, has headed the IAAF since 1981. His job was never in doubt and he ran unopposed. The Italian has often come under fire for his autocratic style and has had a hostile reception from the Swedish press, especially after insulting a female Swedish television journalist.

For the first time in IAAF’s 83-year history, two women were elected to the 27-member council, the executive arm of the IAAF.

One was Nawal El Moutawakel-Bennis of Morocco, the 400 hurdles champion at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The other, Abby Hoffman, was formerly one of Canada’s best middle-distance runners.