Ioc To Nhl Players: Obey Rules

The IOC’s top medical official has warned NHL players about taking cold tablets containing banned stimulants, saying an entire team could be thrown out of the Olympics for a single positive test.

“We have rules and rules have to be applied,” Prince Alexandre de Merode, chairman of the IOC medical commission, said. “Even if professional players are coming, they have to accept the rules of the Olympic Games.”

De Merode’s reaction came after Sports Illustrated quoted two NHL trainers as saying 20 percent of the league’s players routinely take Sudafed before a game to get a “buzz.”

Sudafed is an over-the-counter medication that contains pseudoephedrine, a stimulant that is on the IOC’s list of banned substances.

League spokesman Arthur Pincus said players chosen for the Olympics have been subjected to random drug tests.

Sumo, motorcycling gain footholds

Sumo wrestling, body building, speedboat racing and motorcycle racing gained provisional recognition from the IOC on Friday, the first step toward acceptance as Olympic sports.

The IOC executive board gave the provisional recognition to the four international federations, including body building despite its record and reputation for use of steroids and other banned drugs.

“The international federation has been observed at length by the IOC,” IOC director general Francois Carrard said.

“From what we have been told, the abuses and excesses of drugs were caused by outside elements and not caused by the federation. We know the federation is doing a lot to eliminate drugs.”

Recognition of the four federations is valid for a two-year trial period. After that, full recognition can be granted by the IOC. Then, the sport becomes eligible for Olympic status.

Looking to 2006

With the deadline two days away, the IOC said Friday in Nagano it had received six bids - all from Europe - for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

IOC director general Francois Carrard said the declared candidates were Helsinki, Finland, making a joint bid with Lillehammer, Norway; Sion, Switzerland; Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia; Zakopane, Poland; the Turin region of Italy; and Klagenfurt, Austria, in a three-country bid with Slovenia and Italy.

The 2006 site will be selected by the IOC in September 1999.

Close shave

Police called in to disarm a suspicious package mailed to Nagano Olympic headquarters Friday found that instead of a bomb, it contained a toilet seat warmer, gloves and hand-warmers.