Italy’s Bevilacqua Set To Be Banned
Italian high jumper Antonella Bevilacqua is set to be banned from the Atlanta Olympics in a doping controversy.
Bevilacqua’s disqualification is expected to be announced today, Italian officials said.
Bevilacqua, among the top six jumpers in the world this year, tested positive twice for the banned stimulant ephedrine in May.
Use of ephedrine normally carries an automatic three-month suspension. But the Italian track and field federation cleared the athlete on grounds that she took the drug unwittingly in a Chinese herbal medicine for losing weight.
Italian federation officials cited a new International Olympic Committee rule which they said allowed leniency in the case of athletes taking ephedrine by mistake.
But the sport’s world governing body, the International Amateur Athletic Federation, insisted the athlete should face the mandatory three-month suspension under its rules.
Bevilacqua finished sixth at the 1993 world championships. She failed to qualify for the final of the high jump at the Barcelona Games.
Bevilacqua, who is still in Italy, was scheduled to arrive Monday at the Italian training camp in Winston Salem, N.C.
Jury takes over
A City Court judge said there was enough evidence for a jury to decide if a Texas woman defrauded international journalists who rented apartments through her during the Olympics.
Atlanta Municipal Court Judge Catherine Malicki said Tuesday a jury should decide if Meggen Mills, president of Atlanta Corporate Key, is guilty of six counts of theft by deception. She is free on $100,000 bond.
Her attorney, Bruce Morris, argued that Mills never intended to deceive anyone, and that she delivered some of the promised apartments but was arrested before others were due.
Morris said she plans to refund the balance owed any of the journalists.
A new ‘Prime Time’ player
Michael Johnson is emerging as a prime-time television attraction in his bid for a 400-200 track and field double.
Olympic organizers released a revised schedule that shifted the starting times of three Johnson sessions - a second-round heat of the 400 meters on July 27, the 400 finals on July 29 and a 200-meter semifinal and final on Aug. 1.
The shift appears to be the latest effort by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, track and field’s governing body, to strengthen its position for maximum television exposure.
And a 1-hour later start in the 100-meter dash will give the NBC more time to promote races.
Friday’s forecast
The forecast for Day One is a high of 92, a low of 73, and relative humidity at 45-50 percent.
xxxx GO FOR BROKE? Sample cost per day for a family of four at the Atlanta Olympics: Parking at Olympic lot: $10 Four tickets to boxing at $48 each: $192 Room at suburban Holiday Inn: $119 Breakfast at McDonald’s: $12.88 Four hot dogs at arena, $3 each: $12 Four sodas at arena $2.75 each: $11 Four orders of french fries at arena, $3.25 each: $13 Four bottles of water at arena, $2.75 each: $11 Two T-shirts, $18 each: $36 Two caps, $15 each: $30 Four Olympic pins, $5 each: $20 Four frozen lemonades at Olympic Park, $3 each: $12 Admission to Coca-Cola Olympic City: $42 Dinner at Mick’s, a popular, moderately priced Atlanta restaurant: $36 Total: $556.88