Athlete fails EPO test

An unidentified athlete has tested positive for the blood-boosting drug EPO(erythopoetin) at the World Championship in Edmonton, according to an IAFF spokesman last night.

But the athlete was not Russian world indoor champion Olga Yegorva, who was cleared to compete in last night's 5,000 metre heats despite failing a test for EPO in Paris last month.

It is the first positive test on a track and field athlete for EPO to fulfil the IAAF testing procedure. Yegorva was one of 11 athletes whose urine was sent to Switzerland for a special analysis for the substance, and so far 50 athletes have undergone blood and urine tests for EPO before and during the world championships.

The IAAF testing continues to follow strict procedure: Testers first analyse the blood of the athletes. If the find the blood values are outside certain parameters, another test is ordered on their urine to focus on EPO, which boosts the number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the body.

The athlete whose sample is not negative has already competed in Edmonton.

When does a true start become a false start? That's the question Peter Coghlan was still trying to figure out yesterday after failing to come through the semi-finals of 110 metres hurdles.

Coghlan was one of two men credited with a false start in the first of three semi-finals on Wednesday night, despite reaction times that were within the legal limit. Under IAAF rules, reactions less than 0.1 seconds are recalled by the starter, but there is also a electronic "third eye" which can attribute athletes with a false start if they are guilty of rocking or deliberately moving in the blocks.

Running in the first of three semi-finals, and with the top two in each and the two fastest losers qualifying for the final, Coghlan had been quietly confident of his chances. But his problems began when he was given a false start, followed by a similar penalty to South Africa's Shaun Bownes. Both reaction times were within the limit but the "third eye" was apparently catching them out.

"When they called me back for a false I had no idea why," said Coghlan, trying, unsuccessfully, to control his anger. "And when Bownes false started I looked at his reaction and it was .139 and I told the starter than none of these were under .10.

"So I thought there must have been something wrong with my blocks and I just had to sit on them, and I got a terrible start. It was an unbelievably bad first hurdle and I was finished from there. I can't believe it." The disappointed Dubliner eventually finished fifth in 13.61 seconds.

Sarah Reilly wasn't worried so much about the starting blocks in her heats of the 200 metres, but rather the athlete starting in the lane outside her. Drawn in the same race was Marion Jones, back on the track and eager to make amends for her silver in the 100 metres.

After running a powerful bend and maintaining her form into the straight, she took third in 23.02 - and was rewarded with a notable improvement on her own Irish record of 23.12. Jones took the win in 22.70.

"I had to be positive going out there, so I just tried to relax and stay strong. Having Marion Jones there actually helped because I was just really excited to have her drawn outside me.