Sotomayor's Drug Suspension Halved
H A V A N A, Aug. 3 -- Javier Sotomayor got only half of what he wants.
The Cuban high jumper learned Wednesday he will be able tocompete in the Sydney Olympics, yet he maintains he is innocent ofdrug use and will continue to fight to clear his name.
“I am happy, but not totally satisfied,” Sotomayor told TheAssociated Press outside the Karl Marx theater before an eveningceremony for Cuban athletes participating in this summer’s games.
Maintains Innocence
Earlier in the day, the International Amateur AthleticFederation cut Sotomayor’s drug suspension from two years to one,making him eligible for the 2000 Olympic games. But it did notexonerate him for drug use.
A two-time world champion, the world record-holder and the ’92Olympic champion, Sotomayor, 32, was stripped of his gold medal inthe high jump at last year’s Pan American Games after testingpositive for cocaine.
Sotomayor, backed by President Fidel Castro and Cuban sportsauthorities, has maintained his innocence and suggested he was setup by someone trying to harm the communist country’s reputation.
“I want to keep trying to clean up my image,” said Sotomayor,who was accompanied by fellow Cuban track star Ivan Pedroso. “Thatis my goal.”
Support From a Nation
During the ceremony, Sotomayor was greeted by the warm applauseof hundreds of Cuban athletes, coaches, their relatives and Castrohimself.
“During this year, I have been away from competitions, but notfrom sports,” Sotomayor told the crowd inside the theater. “Ihave never felt humiliation, nor scorn, but rather warmth, respectand the affection of the entire nation.”
Sotomayor’s trainer, Guillermo De la Torre, said he was pleasedthe high jumper would be able to compete, but lamented that thedecision “assumes that he had consumed that disgustingsubstance.”
Nevertheless, De la Torre predicted that Sotomayor would againwin the Olympic gold medal.
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