Athletics: Young ban wrong, says Johnson

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) does not have a "legitimate case" in ruling that Jerome Young, the world 400 metres champion, should have been banned from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, according to the five-times Olympic champion Michael Johnson.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) does not have a "legitimate case" in ruling that Jerome Young, the world 400 metres champion, should have been banned from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, according to the five-times Olympic champion Michael Johnson.

Johnson said he did not know how he would react should the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) attempt to strip the US 4x400m relay team of their gold medals from the Games.

Young, who tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in 1999, ran in preliminary rounds of the relay at Sydney, putting in jeopardy the last gold medal won by Johnson, the world record-holder at 200m and 400m. "I never felt it was going to happen because I felt there was no legitimate case for them to do that,"Johnson said when asked about the possibility of losing the medal.

Johnson said he felt Young had been cleared to run in Sydney by a USA Track & Field (USATF) doping appeals board.

The board exonerated Young of the positive test after a US hearing panel had found him guilty. "No one else cared to look into it, not the IOC, not the IAAF. They accepted the USATF decision," he said.