By Mark Zeigler
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 31, 2003

PARIS – American sprinter Kelli White may have failed a drug test at the World Championships, and she may lose her gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters along with $120,000 in prize money, and she may receive a two-year competition ban that would keep her out of next summer's Olympics.

Or she may not.

What we do know is that White, who emerged here as a legitimate challenger to Marion Jones' dominance in the sprints, tested positive after her victory in the 100 last Sunday for modafinil, a stimulant that is used to treat narcolepsy and requires a doctor's prescription in most countries.

What we don't know is whether doping experts will classify it as a minor or major violation, or whether international track officials will accept White's explanation that she took modafinil "in certain circumstances," including the morning of the 100 final, to combat a family history of narcolepsy.

"The mere fact of this allegation is personally harmful and hurtful," a somber White said at a news conference last night. "I have never taken any substance to enhance my performance."

There appears to be three possible scenarios: White gets off on a technicality; White loses her two world sprint titles from Paris but gets only a warning, allowing her to continue competing; or White loses her medals from Paris and is suspended for two years. The IAAF, track and field's world governing body, has launched an investigation.

Without a decision and fearing her teammates could later be stripped of a medal, White surrendered her spot on the women's 4x100 relay team for yesterday's final at Stade de France. Torri Edwards ran the anchor leg instead, had problems with the baton exchange and was passed by France's Christine Arron in the dash for the finish line.

The French won in 41.78 seconds to the Americans' 41.83, amounting to one of the biggest upsets of the nine-day World Championships that conclude today.

White's problems began not when her urine test was sent to a Paris lab last Sunday, but when she submitted the accompanying paperwork. Athletes are required to list all medications they are taking and, if any contain banned substances, to obtain an exemption from anti-doping officials. White admitted she did neither in the case of modafinil, which in the United States is sold under the brand name of Provigil.

"This is an embarrassing fact for her," said IAAF vice president Arne Ljungqvist, who also serves as the chief of its medical commission. "She thought she did not need to declare this substance because it was not on the banned list. This, of course, is not an excuse."

White is correct that modafinil is not currently named on the list of banned substances used by track and field. There is, however, a clause that adds, "and all related substances." And Ljungqvist said modafinil "clearly" qualifies as a related substance in the category of energy-boosting stimulants.

"It's not just my judgment," Ljungqvist said. "We have received input from scientists from around the world in the last few hours. There is a consensus. It is a stimulant ... But we need to know exactly where to classify it."

By that, Ljungqvist means whether to put it in the minor or major class of stimulants. First offenses involving "minor" stimulants generally are punished by a warning and disqualification from that particular event, but no further suspension. First offenses involving stimulants of the more severe category get a two-year competition ban.

White, 26, has been a relatively undistinguished sprinter until recently, failing to make the 2000 Olympic team and winning a bronze medal in the 200 at the 2001 World Championships. She had a breakthrough summer, though, winning the 100 and 200 at the U.S. championships with personal-best times in both events, then completing the double again in Paris with two more PRs.

It also coincides with the period when she said she has been taking modafinil.

White said members of her family "have been under doctor's care for the condition of narcolepsy," which is characterized by brief attacks of deep sleep, and that she too was diagnosed with it earlier this year. She said her physician, Brian Goldman, prescribed Provigil, which medical journals describe as a mood-brightening and memory-enhancing psycho-stimulant.

"(I was) extremely tired all the time, not sleeping well in the evenings because I was sleeping in the daytime," White said. "My memory wasn't very good ... The reason I started taking the medication is I wanted to feel normal. I wanted to have a regular season this year."

White, who lives and trains in the Bay Area, did not provide details about Goldman, but there is a Dr. Brian Goldman in Northern California who advises professional and Olympic athletes. White said they researched modafinil's doping implications, searching through banned lists provided by international and U.S. anti-doping agencies – and found nothing to indicate it was banned.

However, a simple Internet search locates a prescription medication Web site about modafinil that warns: "Athletes should be aware that one of the main ingredients of this product would produce a positive result in anti-doping tests." In addition, the International Tennis Federation's 2003 anti-doping program includes modafinil on its list of banned stimulants.

As for White's two major arguments – that modafinil isn't on track's banned list and that she didn't think she needed to include it on her medical form – recent history suggests neither will fly.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics, testers busted three cross country skiing medalists for an endurance-boosting drug not specifically mentioned on the banned lists. They lost their medals anyway under the "related substances" clause.

At the 2000 Olympics, gymnastics all-around champion Andrea Raducan of Romania tested positive for a banned stimulant she claimed was part of a cold medication that the team doctor prescribed. It didn't matter. Athletes are considered responsible for everything in their bodies, and the International Olympic Committee reluctantly stripped the 16-year-old Raducan of her gold.

This is not White's first run-in with French drug-testers. After a meet in Paris last summer, her urine sample showed traces of a corticoid (an anti-inflammatory steroid) that she did have medical clearance to use. The IAAF did not consider it a doping offense, but France banned her from competing in the country for six months.

Now, modafinil.

"Deep in my heart, I believe that I'm innocent," White said. "I know I'm innocent. I worked very hard for the medals I earned this week, and I'm going to work very hard to keep them."