International Capsules: U.S. investigation goes to France

LYON, France (AP) — U.S. investigators interviewed French anti-doping officials at Interpol headquarters Tuesday as part of a probe into allegations of drug use by cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, a French official told The Associated Press.

The investigation shifted its focus to France, with an American delegation seeking information from police officials and the national anti-doping agency, AFLD, that has stored some of Armstrong’s samples from the Tour de France. Armstrong won cycling’s storied race seven straight times, from 1999 to 2005.

Francoise Lasne, director of the AFLD lab, and testing director Jean-Pierre Verdy were heard as witnesses Tuesday at Interpol, an official with knowledge of the meeting told the AP. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the case.

Interpol, the international police agency, is acting an intermediary between the U.S. and French officials.

Before the meeting, a French official said the AFLD would make its information available to the Americans. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the meeting.

He said the agency would share "everything we know, everything we have, in the fridges, in the freezers, everything, everywhere" and is prepared to answer "everything that they ask."

The U.S. probe is being conducted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration Agent Jeff Novitzky and others. Approached in the lobby of his hotel, Novitzky declined comment. The French official said he believed the American delegation also included U.S. federal prosecutor Doug Miller and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart.

Miller had been booked at the same hotel as Novitzky, but canceled the reservation. He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. His office voicemail said he would be out of the country from Monday to Thursday. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined comment.

Reached by e-mail, Tygart declined comment. In a recorded phone message at USADA headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., Tygart said he was out of the office on business.

French police officials whose job it is to investigate sports doping in France are also meeting later this week with the Americans, a senior police official said Tuesday. That official spoke on condition that he not be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.

The meeting will also be in Lyon, the south-central city where Interpol is located, and was organized through the police agency, the official said. He said he expects the meeting would cover, among other subjects, disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis’ allegations that Armstrong and members of his former U.S. Postal team systematically doped.

The police officials work for a French agency that, separately, has also been investigating syringes and transfusion equipment found in a trash container after the 2009 Tour de France that French officials say belonged to the Astana cycling team that included Armstrong and Tour winner Alberto Contador.

The American, who retired in ‘05 before coming back for the ‘09 and ‘10 Tours, has repeatedly denied allegations he took performance-enhancing drugs.

The former head of the French agency, Pierre Bordry, previously promised to hand over Armstrong’s samples from the 1999 Tour de France to Novitzky if the agent makes an official request. Bordry announced his resignation this September after battling with French authorities over the budget for the doping agency.

"The samples were clean when originally provided and tested. So we have nothing to be concerned about. Period," Mark Fabiani, an attorney for Armstrong, said in a statement sent to the AP on Tuesday.

One of the French officials, meanwhile, said he does not know whether U.S. investigators have formally requested the samples.

"They can’t just take them with them. There’s all the preparation that needs to be done before that happens," he said.

The French sports daily L’Equipe reported in 2005 that Armstrong’s samples from 1999 contained traces of the banned performance-enhancer EPO after being retested in 2004.

An investigator mandated by cycling’s international governing body later cleared Armstrong.

U.S. federal prosecutors have been looking at cheating in cycling for months, aided by Novitzky, who played a key role in the BALCO scandal that implicated athletes like Barry Bonds and Marion Jones and opened a window into the methods used to dope.

Armstrong became a more important figure in the probe this spring after Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for failing a doping test, dropped long-standing denials and acknowledged he used performance-enhancing drugs. In doing so, he accused Armstrong and others of systematic drug use.

Gymnastics

Johnson back to Karolyi ranch, readies for London

Shawn Johnson spent so much time at the Karolyi ranch before the Beijing Olympics it may as well have been her second home.

However, Johnson is surprisingly nervous as she packs for her first trip there in more than two years. Other gymnasts have moved in during her absence, making the Olympic gold medalist feel like an outsider.

"It’s been so long and I’m completely out of the loop. I don’t remember what it’s like or if I’m up to par with everyone," said Johnson, who leaves Thursday for her first national team training camp since Beijing. "It’ll probably be fine. I’m probably making way too big of deal about it. But it is (nerve-racking). It’s foreign territory for me right now."

Comebacks in gymnastics are daunting enough. The sport requires equal doses of physical strength and precision, and the only way to perfect Olympic-caliber routines is through hundreds and hundreds of hours of training. Take just a month or two off, and you may as well be starting from scratch.

A complete reconstruction of her left knee last February makes Johnson’s challenge even greater.

"It’s definitely not 100 percent," said Johnson, who tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus, as well as her hamstring, during a January ski vacation to celebrate her 18th birthday. "It gets really frustrating. I’ve broken down about it a few times because that’s the only thing that’s keeping me from getting to where I want to go. My biggest fear is that’s what’s going to keep me from competing and getting back to the Olympics."

It’s as much a blessing as it is a curse because the knee injury prompted her return to the gym.

Johnson needed time away from gymnastics after winning the 2007 world title and four medals in Beijing — a gold on balance beam and silvers in the all-around, team competition and floor exercise. She won "Dancing With the Stars," carried the Olympic torch before the Vancouver Games and traveled the country for appearances and commercial opportunities. She even got her own video game, "Shawn Johnson Gymnastics," which came out Tuesday for Wii users.

Johnson talked about a comeback, and even stopped in at the gym from time to time. But being a "normal" teenager was too much fun.

"I hadn’t had the choice to do what I wanted or to wake up and say, ‘You know what? I don’t want to work out today,"’ she said. "Going to Iowa Hawkeye football games, doing things like that, it’s hard to give up."

When Johnson blew out her knee, her first thoughts were of gymnastics.

"That said something to me," she said. "If that meant so much, I had unfinished business there."

Johnson went straight from the doctor’s office to the gym to talk to longtime coach Liang Chow and plot her comeback. With her physical activities limited for six months after her Feb. 16 surgery, she began running and doing conditioning work to get her body back in gymnastics shape.

As her knee healed, she resumed gymnastics workouts. Johnson isn’t doing full routines yet, and estimates she’s got about 50 percent of her skills back.

"We’ve made very good progress since she’s been back in the gym," Chow said. "The major problem still we’re dealing with is her knee situation. We cannot push it; it’s not nearly 100 percent yet because of the injury. We just need to be very, very cautious on that."

Johnson trains four hours every afternoon Monday through Friday, with additional morning sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. She also trains twice on Saturday. It’s more hours than in the lead-up to Beijing, but Chow said they need the extra time because they can’t push as hard and risk a setback with Johnson’s knee.

"It’s milder," he said, "but it’s stretched out a little more."

And Chow is adamant about protecting Johnson’s knee. For every hour they work on floor exercise, for example, only 20 minutes is spent on the hard floor. She’ll do the rest of her work on the tumble track, a soft, springy surface. If she’s feeling pain or frustration, he’ll have her swim laps, do the elliptical machine or sit in the sauna.

He’s not above making threats, either, telling her that she’ll be limited to a couple of events instead of the all-around.

"It’s really mentally exhausting. Every day when I get to gym, whether I’m tired or not, I’m wanting to push myself and get my new skills, progress to the next level," Johnson said. "I want to move a lot faster than I am, and I think I don’t notice how fast I’m actually moving. I’ve made so much progress in the last four to five months, but it’s going to take awhile. I just need to have patience."

And Johnson is making progress, Chow said. Doctors have said it likely will be a year to 18 months after surgery before Johnson’s knee feels like it used to.

"The improvement is very good, but also we have a lot of challenges ahead of us," Chow said. "In general, I’m thinking pretty positive because things are coming along together."

He felt the time was right to let national team coordinator Martha Karolyi have a look at her progress.

Johnson hopes to compete next year, and the original plan was to be ready for the January training camp at Karolyi’s ranch near Houston. But Chow sent her a video of a recent training session, and Karolyi was impressed enough that she wants to see Johnson in person.

"It was a lot to handle, but Chow said the sooner the better to get back into it," Johnson said. "I just want to go and show Martha that I’m serious. This is something I’m really working toward."

-- Nancy Armour

Swimming

Schubert speaking out about USA Swimming ouster

The nasty split between USA Swimming and former national team coach Mark Schubert is going public.

Coates defeats Pound for CAS presidency

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Australian Olympic official John Coates was elected president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday, defeating Dick Pound of Canada.

Coates defeated his fellow International Olympic Committee member to win a four-year term in a vote of the court’s 20-member management body, the International Council of Arbitration for Sport.

The court and its new president agreed not to disclose the vote count, although the outcome was "close," CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb told The Associated Press.

Coates, who sits on the IOC executive board, is president of the Australian Olympic Committee. He has been a member of the ICAS since it was formed in 1994 to run the court independently of the IOC, and a vice president for 15 years.

Pound, a former IOC vice president and ICAS member, was defeated in a CAS election for the second time. He lost to Italian official Mino Auletta in 2008 in a vote for the interim president of world sport’s highest court of appeal after the death of founding president Keba Mbaye from Senegal.

The ICAS also chose two vice presidents. Gunnar Werner of Sweden was re-elected and board member Michael Lenard of the United States was elevated to replace Coates.

The CAS began work in 1984 to rule on disputes in Olympic sports.

It later became the appeals court for decisions such as doping rulings made by international federations, which recognize the authority of CAS in their statutes.

The CAS handles around 300 appeal and arbitration cases each year at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and regional offices in New York and Sydney.

Coates’ primary task is to manage the court’s annual budget of $9 million. More than half its funding is provided by the Olympic movement and the rest is earned from case fees.

IOC panel in London for check on 2012 preparations

LONDON (AP) — IOC officials are back in London to check on preparations for the 2012 Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission will hold three days of meetings with London organizers to assess the progress with less than two years to go before the games.

Panel members also will visit some of the sports venues under construction.

It’s the seventh visit by the IOC commission since London was awarded the games in 2005.

London organizers are expected to brief the IOC on plans for the first Olympic test events next year.

Since the IOC’s last visit in July, London has launched its volunteer program and announced its ticket prices.

The meetings take place Wednesday through Friday.

Track & Field

Felix, Oliver win 2010 Jesse Owens Awards

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Allyson Felix has won her third Jesse Owens Award, and David Oliver was honored by USA Track and Field for the first time.