08/26/2003 14:23:11 EST Drummond Quits Track Championships By STEPHEN WILSON AP Sports Writer
American sprinter Jon Drummond pulled out of the World Championships on Tuesday rather than being forced to withdraw because of his track protest. Drummond, who threw a tantrum after being disqualified from Sunday's 100-meter quarterfinals for a false start, announced his decision as track and field's world governing body threatened to expel him for "bringing the sport into disrepute." "My spirit is broken because it has always been my desire to provide entertainment for the fans," Drummond said in a statement. "It saddens me that I will not have that opportunity this weekend or the rest of the season." Drummond, who had hoped to run in the 400-meter relay this weekend, also said he was pulling out of the rest of the 2003 season. Drummond threw a tantrum after being thrown out of Sunday's heats. He lay on his back on the track, argued with officials and gestured to the crowd in an angry, tearful tirade which disrupted the meet for nearly an hour. The International Association of Athletics Federations' advisory board said Monday that Drummond's behavior was "improper and unsporting and has brought the sport of athletics into disrepute." The board gave USA Track & Field until Tuesday night to take disciplinary action against him. "During the course of our discussions with him, Jon Drummond informed us that he was withdrawing from the competition and ending his season," the USATF said about an hour before the deadline expired. The IAAF also ordered USATF to take action against Michael Cain, the U.S. national teams manager who jumped out of the stands, ran up to Drummond and spoke to him briefly at the side of the track. USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer said Cain's credential has being revoked. The turmoil was the result of a new IAAF rule on false starts, which disqualifies a person who commits the second false start in a race, regardless of who commits the first. Drummond said he flinched in the blocks but did not jump the gun. Drummond, 34, had been part of the U.S. sprint relay pool. Relay preliminaries are Saturday, with the finals Sunday. Drummond won two World Championship relay gold medals at the 1993 and 1995 meets and ran the first leg on the U.S. team which won the gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He ran the opening leg on the team which equaled the world record of 37.40 seconds at the 1993 championships in Stuttgart, Germany. The USATF opposed the introduction of the new false-start rule when it was approved by the IAAF in 2001. The rule went into effect this year. The current rule allows for the possibility of a runner competing under protest after a disqualification. But the ultimate decision is up to race officials. Starting Jan. 1, the rule will change and no runner will be allowed to compete under a protest. Sprinters are considered guilty of a false start if they leave the blocks less than a tenth of a second after the starting gun. A computer showed that Drummond reacted in 0.052. Copyright 2003 Associated Press
