IAAF nullifies U.S. relay team's world indoor record
Record not ratified because EPO tests weren't conducted

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Posted Tuesday, 11 July, 2006

MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- A U.S. relay team was denied a world indoor record Tuesday because the runners weren't tested after the race for the banned substance EPO.

The U.S. squad -- Kerron Clement, Wallace Spearmon, Darold Williamson and Jeremy Wariner -- had a time of 3 minutes, 1.96 seconds in the 1,600-meter relay at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 11.

But officials responsible for collecting samples for drug testing at the meet failed to request an EPO test from the laboratory, making the result ineligible as an official record, the International Association of Athletics Federations said.

"IAAF rules say all world records require doping tests that include an EPO test," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said. "For some reason, track organizers did not specify on the sample form they sent to the laboratory that it must be tested for EPO. Because this wasn't indicated immediately, it would have been too late to rectify after the sample had been sent out."

The IAAF made EPO testing mandatory with all world records involving 400-meter events at a council meeting in Athens, Greece, in March 2004. EPO, or erythropoietin, is a synthetic hormone that enhances stamina by increasing an athlete's supply of oxygen-rich red blood cells.

The world indoor record remains 3:02.83, run by another U.S. team in Maebashi, Japan, in March 1999. The team members were Andre Morris, Dameon Johnson, Deon Minor and Milton Campbell.

The IAAF ratified three world records Tuesday, including the men's 20K and half-marathon marks set by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. He ran 55:48 and 58:55, respectively, at the Arizona marathon and half-marathon in January.

Also ratified was the women's 15K time of 46:55, set by Kayoko Fukushi of Japan in Marugame, Japan, on Feb. 5.

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