US reviewing Merritt’s world championship place

The governing body of US track and field (USATF) is considering a request to bend its own rules and allow disgraced Olympic and world 400 metres champion LaShawn Merritt compete in this year’s world championships.

Merritt is scheduled to complete his 21-month doping suspension on July 27, a month ahead of the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, but a month after the US trials in Eugene, Oregon.

As the reigning world champion, Merritt would normally be an automatic qualifier for the world championships but USATF bylaws require all athletes to compete in the trials to be considered for the American team.

“Our question is, do we want to set ourselves up to create a precedent by allowing him to run,” USATF president Stephanie Hightower told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“I am a strong believer in rules are rules. But as circumstances and situations change, my philosophy is that you keep an open mind.”

US DECISION

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said the issue was entirely up to the USATF to decide.

“The ‘wild card’ IAAF rule clearly states that they (defending champions) are eligible only with the agreement of the national athletics federation,” spokesman Nick Davies said in an email to Reuters.

“So if the US was to insist on participation (in the American trials), he would not be able to compete in Daegu, even as a wild card,” Davies said.

Merritt was suspended in 2010 after he tested positive for a banned substance he said was found in a male enhancement product.

His participation in the 2012 London Olympics already is under question.

An International Olympic Committee (IOC) rule prohibits athletes with doping suspensions of six or more months from competing in the next Olympics.

But a panel of US arbitrators in suspending Merritt said the rule could not be used to prevent him from competing in the 2012 US Olympic trials or Olympic Games.

The IOC disagrees and the case is expected to make its way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a final ruling.

“We continue to work behind the scenes in support of a resolution as quickly as possible,” U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) spokesman Patrick Sandusky told Reuters.