Yegorova not 'family friendly' enough for French event Agence France-Presse
LIEVEN, France (February 21, 2002 02:12 PM EST) - The controversial Russian distance runner Olga Yegorova has not been invited to run in Sunday's indoor athletics meeting because she failed to meet the organizers' "family-friendly" criteria. Yegorova was banned last year after testing positive for the banned endurance-boosting substance EPO, but was reinstated on a technicality and went on to win the world 5,000-meter outdoor title in Edmonton, Canada. But Gerard Fremaux, the organizer of the Lieven meeting - one of the leading indoor events - said Thursday he was not prepared to let athletes who had been involved in doping take part in his event. "Yegorova was on a list of around 25 athletes submitted to me by her manager for inclusion in the meeting," said Fremaux. "I chose around five athletes and Yegorova was not one of them. "We want a meeting that will be educational and there will be a lot of children here, so I don't want athletes who have had doping problems." Yegorova was beaten into second place by Ethiopia's Berhane Adere in her first race of the year in Stuttgart earlier this month, as the Ethiopian set a new 3,000 indoor world record of 8 minutes, 29.15 seconds.
