At a closed-door meeting, the USOC gave preliminary approval
Sunday to a revised code of conduct and a no-notice drug testing
program, according to the TAMPA TRIBUNE. USOC President Dr.
LeRoy Walker said the documents will be reviewed by the athletes
and sports federations before they are approved by the Board of
Directors in April (Jason Davis, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 2/19). The USOC
hopes to have the code of conduct in place in time for the
Atlanta Games, but the drug-testing may not be implemented until
after Atlanta (Karen Rosen, ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/19).
CODE OF CONDUCT: The new code forbids athlete contract
alterations, specifies when athletes become Olympians, and
simplifies methods of appeals. The USOC began exploring a
conduct code revision after the '92 Barcelona Games when Michael
Jordan and Magic Johnson modified portions of their contract
which required them to wear official clothing, in that case made
by their sponsors' competitors. During the medal ceremonies,
Jordan and Johnson used American flags to cover up Reebok's logo.
In '94, skater Tonya Harding used a loophole in the rules to say
she wasn't an Olympian when Nancy Kerrigan was attacked, thus
preventing the USOC from keeping her from competing (TAMPA
TRIBUNE, 2/19). Athletes now will be required to accept the new
code without alterations or stay at home (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION,
2/19).
