/ 16 July 2008

Athletics coach Graham banned over doping

Athletics coach Trevor Graham was on Tuesday banned for life by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) over doping.

Usada said that Graham helped his athletes obtain illegal substances.

Graham coached among others Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, who have all been caught or have admitted to doping.

Graham is banned from all events run by the US Olympic committee, the world governing athletics body IAAF and the US athletics federation.

He has also been convicted of lying to investigators about his relationship to a steroid dealer, but has not yet been sentenced.

Graham admitted in 2004 that it was him who sent Usada a sample of the then-undetectable designer drug THG, which led to the unravelling of the Balco laboratory doping scandal. — Sapa-dpa