Appeal filed for Martina »

Appeal filed for Martina

BEIJING (AP):

The Netherlands Antilles has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to restore Churandy Martina as the third-place finisher in the men's 200 metres, after he was disqualified for stepping out of his lane, the country's national Olympic com-mittee said Sunday.

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the gold in last Wednesday's race. American Wallace Spearmon crossed the finish line second and Martina was third, but both were disqualified for stepping out of their lanes.

Two Americans, Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix, were moved up to silver and bronze medal positions.

Video evidence

But the Netherlands Antilles is arguing that the protest against Martina was filed well beyond the 30-minute deadline set by the international track federation and they say they have video showing he stayed in his lane the entire time.

William Millerson, president of the country's Olympic committee, said this also is about a small country standing up to the Inter-national Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

The headline of a Sunday news release announcing the appeal refers to this as a 'David and Goliath case'.

"We're not going away," Millerson said. "Just because we're a smaller country, we don't have to be like a dog, put your tail in your behind and then leave. We cannot do that because, even being a small country, we have our pride."

Millerson said the CAS should have a ruling by September 30. There was no immediate reaction from US officials.

"We have not yet seen the complaint and without having done so, we are not in a position to comment," USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said.

Dangerous Precedent

The Netherlands Antilles' case starts with the precedent set at last year's World Championship, when American Michelle Perry was allowed to keep her title in the 100-metre hurdles even though replays clearly show her going out of her lane, because the protest was filed too late.

Should the current result stand, Americans would have benefitted in both cases, something duly noted by the Netherlands Antilles officials. They also see this as setting a dangerous precedent for ignoring the 30-minute rule.

"I can't imagine what happens if this situation is allowed, what can happen in another international track and field meet with countries filing after the official timeline," said Remco Tevreden, director of the national olympic committee.

Part of the delay was that Martina's violation was hard to see - as opposed to Spearmon's violation, which was detected immediately by a lane monitor.

Martina's misstep was discovered by US officials while watching replays of Spearmon.

Tevreden said the IAAF acknowledged using video other than the official Olympic footage to make its ruling. He wants them to also look at the video his delegation took.

"You have two parties in the case," Tevreden said. "Why only use video from one?"

Apply rules

"Hopefully, they don't also say that Bolt stepped on the line," Millerson said, laughing. "That would've been good, you know."

As for Martina, he said he is "very happy with how everything goes", appreciating the support of his delegation and other athletes.

He was chosen to carry his nation's flag during the closing ceremony.

"This process doesn't bother me," he said. "If I got it, I got it. But it's supposed to be fair play. ... They're supposed to go by the rules."

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