Controversy
at the starting line

Accusations of doping still follow
Mary Slaney and Wang Junxia

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

There will be a dash of controversy when some of the world's top track stars arrive for the fourth Nike Waikiki P.L.A.Y. Mile races.

The elite international competition will begin at 3:45 p.m. on Kalakaua Avenue on Dec. 13, the eve of the 25th Honolulu Marathon.

The controversy surrounds two superstars of the women's sport: America's Mary Slaney and China's Wang Junxia.

Both have been dogged by accusations of doping in their careers, and Slaney continues to battle a suspension imposed last summer by track and field's international governing body. The International Amateur Athletic Federation suspension -- after she allegedly tested positive for high levels of testosterone before making the 1996 U.S. Olympic team -- could pose problems for her planned comeback here.

But Honolulu Marathon Association president Jim Barahal said last night that he sees no reason to keep Slaney out of the star-studded women's field. He cited the fact that America's governing body for the sport cleared her in September.

"As far as I know right now, Mary Slaney has been cleared by the USATF (United States of America Track and Field) and she can run," Barahal said. "Until we hear otherwise, that's the way it is.

"Mary Slaney has been a great runner since she was 14. I don't think she has to answer for her integrity. It speaks for itself."

She was the 1996 Waikiki Mile runner-up to Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan last December.

At 39, Slaney is regarded as the greatest female middle distance runner in U.S. history, and Wang, at 23, is the most revered track athlete in China.

Slaney has held 17 world and 30 U.S. records (she still owns four U.S. marks) in her long career, and Wang holds two world records (3,000 and 10,000 meters) and won Olympic gold (5,000 meters) and silver (10,000) medals in Atlanta.

It appeared in September that Slaney would be cleared for the Waikiki Mile after the USATF exonerated her in a public announcement.

She was suspended just prior to the USATF outdoor championships after a season in which she finished second in the 1,500 meters in the World Indoor Championships in Paris.

But the IAAF did not join the USATF in clearing her of doping charges.

The IAAF announced last week that it would continue to pursue the Slaney case, clouding her status for the Waikiki Mile.

The dilemma facing Barahal is what to do if the IAAF does not lift its international suspension before Dec. 13. Slaney's legal counsel has insisted that the USATF's ruling is all that matters.

The Waikiki field is clearly international. Besides Wang, it includes Dong Liu, another Chinese standout, world cross-country silver medalist Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, world 2,000-meter record holder Sonia O'Sullivan of Ireland, and her Olympic teammate, Sinead Delahunty.

Wang represents a sports federation long accused of systematic doping, a charge renewed in October when 12 Chinese women broke 4 minutes in the 1,500 and two broke the 5,000 record.

She underwent a dozen drug tests conducted by the Chinese Sports Commission in 1996. All were negative.

"It would be an incredible statement on our part to say we don't think these times are legit," Barahal said. "I don't have any evidence whatsoever to prove that.

"There's a possibility of xenophobia here. Every time a non-American does something great, it's impossible.

"No one accused Michael Johnson of doing anything when he broke the 200-meter record by nearly half a second, which is certainly as remarkable -- more remarkable -- than anything any Chinese woman has done."