Swimmer Cleared

Jessica Foschi, the teenage swimmer who tested positive for steroids last summer in a case that brought international reaction, has been cleared of all charges by an arbitration panel.

The American Arbitration Association decision means Foschi, 15, from Old Brookville, N.Y., can compete with a clean slate and without undergoing periodic drug tests imposed as part of a two-year suspension by U.S. Swimming.

A lawyer for Foschi, Mark Levenstein, said the family would review lawsuits it has filed against U.S. Swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee but held out the possibility of seeking damages. The original lawsuits did not mention monetary penalties.

While Olympic officials insisted they’ll remain in business after the Games end, a judge agreed with Olympic stadium designers that the financial future of the Olympic organization is too uncertain to delay a legal dispute over overtime pay.

In a brief court hearing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Long gave the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games until April 30 - 15 days earlier than scheduled - to produce reams of documents in the overtime pay lawsuit because “who knows what the financial future of ACOG is.”