Football
Associated Press 19y

White warns of steroid use by high schoolers

PHOENIX -- Sprinter Kelli White told an appreciative
audience of U.S. Olympic and sports leaders on Saturday that she is
concerned about the use of steroids by high school students, and
that it will be difficult to find other elite athletes to come
forward and admit drug use as she has.

White, serving a two-year suspension after admitting she used
steroids and other banned substances, also said she believes she
would be a good case study on the health effects of using banned
performance enhancers.

She made the comments as part of a panel discussing "Doping in
Sport: Are We Winning the Battle?" at the U.S. Olympic Assembly.

White is cooperating with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after
acknowledging that she used performance enhancers in 2003, the year
she won the 100 and 200 meters at the world championships in Paris.
She has since been stripped of both medals.

Her decision to come forward drew praise from USADA chairman Dr.
Ralph Hale and a standing ovation from the crowd at the assembly, a
two-day gathering of U.S. Olympic Committee members and leaders of
the governing bodies of Olympic sports.

Hale, a member of the discussion panel, said White has been
"remarkable in all the help and all the information she has given
us."

"The fight against doping cannot be won unless you have people
who are willing to help and participate. Kelli, on behalf of USADA,
thank you very, very much for what you're doing," Hale said.

White said she had recently attended a town hall meeting with
high school students.

"It was very alarming to learn that a lot of them were
receiving information from their local gyms about steroids, how to
get them. I think that's scary," she said. "I never thought about
using steroids when I was in high school or when I was in college,
never ever. It's going younger and younger and we need to reach
those people and their parents and get the information out."

White never tested positive for steroids but was implicated as
part of the investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative
-- BALCO. She admitted her use of the substances when USADA
confronted her with the evidence it had gathered against her.

She said her coach approached her about the possibility of using
the drugs.

"Everybody else around me wanted me to be bigger than I was,"
White said. "I didn't want to be a star. I didn't want any of
that. It came from outside forces, and once it was all over, I was
happy to be done with that and move forward, and look at myself and
why I actually decided to go there."

Her conclusion:

"For me, it was just being consistent and good in my sport,"
she said. "It had nothing to do with money or fame or anything
like that. I just thought I needed a little extra at the time."

White's coach at the time, Remi Korchemny, is among the four men
indicted on federal charges in the BALCO case. The other defendants
are BALCO founder Victor Conte, Barry Bonds' personal trainer Greg
Anderson and BALCO vice president James Valente.

"I really do take responsibility for my actions, and I regret
everything that I did," White said, "and I do want to make sure
that I can do everything that I can to repay sport for my
actions."

As for whether other athletes will follow her example, White
said, "It's very, very hard to come forward and be truthful about
something that you've done that's not right, so it will be hard to
get athletes to speak about things like that. But I wish that, and
I hope that others will come forward and join the fight."

The third panel member was Howard Jacobs, an attorney who has
represented about 25 athletes in doping cases, including world
100-meter record holder Tim Montgomery. Montgomery, boyfriend of
sprinter Marion Jones and father of her child, faces a lifetime ban
as a result of information gathered by USADA relating to the BALCO
investigation. The international Court of Arbitration for Sport is
to hear Montgomery's appeal June 6 in San Francisco.

Jacobs said that the United States has developed a strong
anti-doping program since USADA was established in 2000, but he
said other countries haven't been so aggressive in attacking the
problem, so athletes are concerned about a level playing field.

One question from the audience concerned claims by some athletes
that supplements they ingested were tainted with banned substances.

"It might sound preposterous to people, but it actually does
happen," Jacobs said. "I've had a number of athletes where we've
had vitamins or protein powders or other supplements tested and
they came up contaminated."

Hale agreed, saying the same vats are used to prepare
supplements and residue can remain if they aren't properly cleaned.

Jacobs said one of his clients, swimmer Kicker Vencill, is suing
the Ultimate Nutrition for damages because of alleged contamination
of vitamins with three steroid precursors. Jacobs said tests of the
vitamins confirmed the presence of the steroids. The trial has been
going on for two weeks in Orange County, Calif.

Vencill is serving a two-year suspension for the positive test.

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