OLYMPIC DIGEST:Moroccan 1,500 metres runner Mariem Alaoui Selsouli has tested positive for a banned diuretic and will miss the London Olympics, the governing body of international athletics said yesterday.
Selsouli, a World Indoor Championships silver medallist this year, has already served a two-year suspension for doping and now faces a lifetime ban under World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) rules.
The 28-year-old became the hot favourite to win 1,500m gold in London when she ran three minutes 56. 15 seconds to win the Paris Diamond League at the Stade de France earlier this month. It was the fastest 1,500m time since 2006 and shaved more than four seconds off her personal best, raising question marks that were answered yesterday.
“The prohibited substance furosemide was found in Mrs Alaoui Selsouli’s sample collected . . . in Paris on 6 July 2012,” a spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said in a statement.
“Alaoui Selsouli has waived her right to the B analysis, and as a result has now been provisionally suspended from all competition in athletics.”
Power play gets its reward
Paddy Power has won its battle against Olympic organisers after they threatened to seek a court order to stop an ambush advertising poster campaign that aimed to cash in on the London 2012 Games. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games had ordered the campaign be taken down.
Paddy Power’s ad proclaimed them as the “Official sponsor of the largest athletics event in London this year! There you go, we said it”. They then went on to reveal that the sponsorship was of an egg and spoon race to be held in the town of London in France. The bookmakers called in London law firm Charles Russell to defend the campaign, threatening to seek an order at the high court to stop Locog making billboard firm JCDecaux removing the ads.
Locog’s law firm, Freshfields, then informed Paddy Power that a decision had been taken to let the campaign continue to run.
Papachristou pays a high price for tasteless tweeted ‘joke’
Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou (23) was withdrawn from the London Olympics yesterday after causing an uproar at home for tweeting what was seen as a racist slur, the head of the Greek Olympics team said.
“With so many Africans in Greece . . . the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!!!” she had posted on her Twitter account.
The head of the Greek Olympic mission said she could no longer be on the team. “She showed no respect for a basic Olympic value and unfortunately she is out,” Isidoros Kouvelos told Greek SKAI TV.
“She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes.”
Papachristou said in a lengthy apology that the comment was “an unfortunate and tasteless joke”. “I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights,” she wrote in a note posted on her Facebook page.
Her apology did not sway the co-ruling Democratic Left party, which had demanded her expulsion. “She can make as many vile ‘jokes’ as she likes on social networking sites when she watches the Olympic Games on TV,” it said in a statement. “But she certainly cannot represent Greece in London.”
One man has died in a small outbreak of the West Nile virus in Athens this month and at least five other cases have been reported.
Fine London weather brings its own problems
London is facing moderate air pollution as the Olympics begin, following several days of hot sunny weather.
The latest UK air pollution forecast from the Environment Department said pollution would be at moderate levels over the next 24 hours in London and southern England as the current weather conditions continue. Other parts of the UK are forecast to experience low air pollution levels.
The situation is predicted to remain unchanged over the next two days as the Games get under way. The main concern is ground level ozone, which forms from traffic fumes in warm sunny weather, and can cause breathing difficulties.
Adults and children with lung problems and adults with heart problems who experience symptoms are advised to consider reducing strenuous physical activity outdoors.
