• Spencer Smith lands in hospital on eve of race
• Spencer Smith finally gets a tranquil winter
• CAS report on its Spencer Smith ruling is out
• Spencer Smith officially confirmed for Hawaii Ironman
• Smith's back, training for Kona
• Smith comes back to triathlon
• CAS releases official statement clearing Smith
• Smith: Ironman yes, Olympics no
• Spencer releases statement
• Spencer Smith cleared
• USAT vs. Spencer Smith yesterday
• CAS date for USAT-ITU postponed
• Smith faring well, so far
• Spencer Smith formally forgoes triathlon for a pro cyclist's life
• USA Triathlon readies its appeal against Spencer Smith's doping case

Spencer Smith officially confirmed for Hawaii Ironman

June 5, Kona, Hawaii (www.triathlonlive.com):

England's Spencer Smith -- who has said himself that his goal for the season is winning the Hawaii Ironman -- is now an official entrant in the race.

That's according to the World Triathlon Corp.'s Priscilla Fraiegari, who formally confirmed what many Ironman-watchers and Smith-fans already suspected.

"I wanted to confirm for you that Spencer will be racing on October 14," Fraiegari, the WTC's media liaison, said today. "As you know, anyone finishing in the top 15 automatically qualifies for the next year's race. Spencer's fifth-place finish in 1998 would have qualified him for last year's race.

"In Spencer's case, extenuating circumstances kept him from competing last year, so that spot has been rolled over for this year."

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Smith's back, training for Kona

May 28, Carlsbad, California, USA (www.triathlonlive.com):

Spencer Smith's formal return to triathlon is slated for June 25, but already it's as if he never left the sport for a six-month foray into European cycling.

England's Smith has moved back to Carlsbad, his preferred U.S. training base. He is back on track with an all-American schedule that starts with the San Diego International Triathlon, and concludes October 14 in the Hawaii Ironman. In between, he will race the low-key Carlsbad Triathlon on July 8, the Mrs. T's Chicago Triathlon on August 27 and the Los Angeles Triathlon on September 10.

And, he is suiting up with nearly all of the sponsors that he had before he quit triathlon for cycling last October: Speedo (apparel), Saucony (shoes), Met-Rx (nutrition), Zipp (wheels) and Rudy Project (helmet and shades). New to the mix are Britain-based Linda McCartney, the vegetarian food company whose team he had joined in cycling; and Sigma Sports, a London bike shop that has replaced Specialized as his bike sponsor.

He has teamed again with Paul Huddle as his coach, who helped him to a fifth-place finish in his one and only Hawaii Ironman in October 1998. That was the race, of course, where an adverse drug test set him on the road to three hearings and three aquittals of any doping charges -- but not before all the politics spoiled his taste for triathlon and he quit it for cycling.

He also returns to the sport with a starting spot reserved for him in Kona. There was a question of whether he would have to qualify this summer, as he didn't race in 1999 given the cloud of the doping hearings. However, the World Triathlon Corp. has accepted his entry to the race this time on the grounds that he didn't take his place that he had qualified for last year. The WTC has rolled it over to this year.

But before the racing comes the tough training.

"I have been training for approximately three weeks and, believe me, it is very, very hard at the moment," Smith said. "But time is on my side. My goal for the year is, of course, Hawaii, and all the other races are just preparation. If I do get some good results on the way, great, but I am not putting pressure on myself to do so.

"This time for Hawaii I will have time to prepare properly, which, for me, is very important. I feel very good mentally and that has been something that, obviously, has not been right for some time."

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Smith quits cycling for triathlon return

April 21, Denia, Spain (www.triathlonlive.com):

Spencer Smith, who gave up triathlon for cycling in the wake of an extended doping inquiry, has now quit cycling to return to triathlon.

He made the announcement from his second home in Spain, on the Costa del Bravo, earlier this week. His primary aim is to race the Hawaii Ironman on October 14, and to focus on Ironman racing for the rest of his career.

He has the full support of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team, which signed him in late December and fully supports his decision to switch back to his first love, triathlon. In fact, Linda McCartney Foods will continue to sponsor him as the company takes steps into the marketplace of a second high-profile international sport.

"Triathlon is a beautiful sport, and I needed to step away from it for a few months to fully appreciate it," Smith said in a phone interview with Triathlonlive.com. "It's a great way to earn a living, to keep fit and everything. The people are amazing. I missed that. I needed the time away to realize that."

Smith emphasizes that his return to triathlon is completely Ironman-oriented, and that he has zero interest in pursuing the Olympic triathlon. Whereas he was in a position to land the third and last spot (after Andrew Johns and Simon Lessing) on Britain's Olympic team last October, when he announced he was giving up triathlon, his world ranking has now fallen too far for him to be eligible, given the British Triathlon Association's guidelines for qualifying.

He says he expects to move back to his primary home in Carlsbad, Calif., where his mother still lives, by the end of May. He will reunite with Paul Huddle, who had coached him to his fifth-place finish in the 1998 Hawaii Ironman.

That was the race, of course, after which his urine sample showed the presence of the steroid nandrolone, resulting in his 17-month journey though hearings and appeals. It ended only last month after the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided the USAT's and ITU's appeal in his favor.

"I would love to do Hawaii this year -- that's my big goal. Hopefully they have wildcard spots - I hope they could give me one.

"And hopefully Paul will be coaching me again. I want to go back to Carlsbad and train there, focus completely and 100 percent o the job at hand.

"The Olympics doesn't really interest me, although I'd be kidding to say I was never interested. But I certainly have lost more interest. The sport, for me, is not about the Olympics; it's about the three disciplines.

"In the future, I will be doing an Ironman schedule, two or three Ironmans a year, though three may be a lot. I still feel I have enough speed in my legs to do the short stuff races as well. But that would be only as preparations for a mostly Ironman-oriented schedule, to keep my racing fitness."

Smith had hinted that he might one day return to the Hawaii Ironman after he was cleared -- three times -- of any doping allegations. But he indicated 2001 would be the soonest, as he had cycling obligations to fulfill with Linda McCartney, the second-year British team that courted him last fall during his waiting game with hearings and decisions.

His breaking point with triathlon came when the World Triathlon Corporation stalled on allowing him in the field for the 1999 Hawaii race. Ultimately he was invited to race, but only about three weeks before race day, too late for him to focus properly on his preparation. The WTC's decision came too late, he said, for him to have a fair chance in winning. That's when he said that triathlon had seen the last of him, and that -- with Linda McCartney sponsorship waiting in the wings -- he was turning to cycling.

Some triathlon observers thought that, once vindicated last month of any doping charges, that Smith might have a good case to sue the WTC for essentially keeping him from racing Hawaii last year. However, he says that he has always felt kindly toward the Hawaiian Ironman, and that suing for damages was never an option.

"I was never going to sue Hawaii, and that was never our intention at all," Smith said. "We never wanted to close any doors in triathlon, that's for sure. I never hated this sport. I never felt this sport was terrible for the way I was treated.

"I love this sport. I still feel so much support in triathlon. Nearly every day since the CAS ruling, I'd get some emails from triathletes I don't even know, saying we miss you and the things you did in triathlon. It was a super feeling to realize the number of people who are actually interested in what and how I am doing. That's what's bringing me back.

"I feel like a new triathlete again. It feels weird, but in a great way. After all this time of feeling in the doldrums, I feel refreshed and motivated again."

For Linda McCartney, Smith was working out to be the 9th- or 10th-man on its 10-man team. He had a successful pro cycling debut in the Tour of Langkawi in Malaysia in January. But once the team and the season turned to the European events last month, Smith found himself struggling to keep up.

Interestingly, Smith's statement in the Linda McCartney press release announcing his switch back to triathlon stops short of saying he has given up cycling entirely: "To be honest, I've found the racing in Europe unbelievably hard, and I've struggled at times, which I fully expected. I still think I can make it to the top, but it's going to take a year or maybe even two before I'm at the sort of level I need to reach to compete."

Pressed by Triathlonlive.com on his apparent intention to keep the cycling doors open as well, he would say only: "Never say never. You see I've returned to triathlon ..."

Further on that point, he said: "It's not that cycling wasn't working for me. The team has been good to me -- there are absolutely no problems there. Linda McCartney has been fantastic for me, 100 percent supportive -- even of my decision to try for Ironman again.

"It's just something about Ironman was nagging me. Once I got cleared in triathlon again, it was just a niggling thing in the back of my mind."

Certainly, cycling didn't bring Smith the kind of results this spring that he is accustomed to. "When you've been winning races as I was doing in triathlon, you become impatient when you don't win. That's what makes a champion, I suppose - the patience.

"I was feeling unfulfilled because I haven't yet become the complete and utter champion without winning the Hawaii Ironman. For me, personally, that was always there.

"I knew that cycling is a very, very difficult sport. I knew it would take at least a couple of years for me to reach the top -- and I'm not even sure that I would have acheived that. The guys in cycling are champions for a reason. Not just because they are strong and know the tactics, but they have experience. I knew it would have taken a good two seasons for me to find my feet and feel confident.

"I knew that I would struggle, and I knew how much I would be hurting. But I'm also only human. Cycling hurt a lot. It's a completely different lifestyle, a different feel, a different mental attitude. You go to races, you race to get fit, you do 100 races a year. It's a continuous cycle of racing and traveling."

Smith said it's unlikely he would be ready to race as soon as June 18, the date for the Windsor Triathlon back in England, a race he has won six times and one at which he would be welcome. He hasn't run or swim since January.

"I'm excited to get back on the road and in the pool," he said. "I'll just pick up and improve from where I left off.

"I'm excited to be back. This decision just occurred slowly, partly because all these e-mails kept coming through. That was another big factor. At the end of the day, the support I've gotten through triathlon is what brought me back, more than anything else. I just needed some time away to realize that."

To further stuff his e-mail box, readers can reach Smith at tricouture@aol.com.

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CAS: The official press release on Smith

April 1, Lausanne, Switzerland (www.triathlonlive.com):

The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport has circulated its official press release on the Spencer Smith case. It reads, in full:

The British Triathlete Spencer Smith underwent a doping test on the occasion of the 1998 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. This doping test revealed the presence of metabolites of nandrolone.

Following the laboratory results, notice of the positive doping test was given to Spencer Smith's national federation, the British Triathlon Association (BTA). The BTA's Disciplinary Panel annulled the positive doping offence further to a preliminary hearing which was conducted on March 21st, 1999. USA Triathlon, which was the nation responsible for sanctioning the 1998 Hawaii Ironman, appealed the decision from the BTA Disciplinary Panel to the Doping and Appeals Board of the International Triathlon Union (ITU). On September 21, 1999, the ITU Doping and Appeals Board dismissed the appeal for lack of evidence (the concentration of nandrolone was not reported).

On October 14, 1999, USA Triathlon referred the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, requesting that a two-year suspension be imposed on Spencer Smith considering that a doping offence has occurred. Three CAS arbitrators were appointed to decide this case: Judge Hugh Fraser (Canada), President, Mrs Carolyn Witherspoon (USA) and Dr Christian Krahe (Germany)

After deliberating, the panel of arbitrators decided to dismiss the appeal filed by the USA Triathlon against the decision of the ITU Doping and Appeals Board. The grounds of this decision will be communicated by the panel of Arbitrators in April.

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Smith: Ironman yes, Olympics no

March 30, London, England (www.triathlonlive.com):

The London Times reported on Tuesday that Spencer Smith, cleared on Monday of doping charges by the Court for Arbitration in Sport, is now keen to take his chances making the British Olympic team for triathlon. But Smith himself says no, not so.

Both his attorney, Tony Morton-Hooper, and his advisor, Robert Burnell, told various media that Smith could indeed consider making a run at landing the BTA’s third slot -- he is still the world’s No. 88-ranked triathlete, in spite of having formally given up the sport last fall.

Yet the only triathlon Smith says he will consider, at this point, is the Hawaii Ironman: the very race that led to his 17 months of legal wrangling after he produced a positive sample for nandrolone after the October, 1998, race.

But don’t look for him to line up in Kona this October. He walked away from triathlon -- and didn’t renew his BTA license for 2000 -- in favor of pro cycling in Europe this year. The soonest he would try the Ironman again would be 2001.

“I am focused on cycling and if I go to the Olympics, it will be for cycling,” Smith said on Tuesday. “I am NOT closing the door to triathlon (because) I still have my demons that need to be put
rest with the Big Island.”

If Smith does change his mind in the next few weeks about trying to qualify for the Olympic triathlon, the BTA door would be open to him. This is how Greg Millet, the BTA’s Performance Director, sees it:

“Spencer is still eligible (top-100), as he is currently ranked 88th. Spencer’s doping case is completely sorted out as the CAS is the highest and most respected legislation in sport.

"It means that if Spencer remains in the top-100 and takes a BTA membership, he will be entered in our three selection races. So will Tim Don, Marc Jenkins, Richard Allen, and maybe Richard Stannard or Craig Ball if they come into the top-100. Simon Lessing and Andrew Johns are already automatic qualifiers with their top-25 rankings.

"It is obviously of major importance for the GB Olympic squad ... I still need to speak with the British Olympic Association to ensure few details, but Spencer is more than welcomed in the trials.”

Spencer’s likely answer: Thanks, but no thanks.

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Spencer releases statement

March 28, London, England (www.triathlonlive.com)

Spencer Smith's attorney throughout his legal troubles with the ITU, Ironman, and USAT has just sent Triathlonlive this following press release, which we reprint in full:

SPENCER SMITH CLEARED OF NANDROLONE SMEAR

Spencer Smith (Britain’s former World Champion triathlete) has been finally cleared of doping allegations (involving the banned steroid nandrolone) by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, following a hearing last week in New York. This is the culmination of a 17 month battle to clear his name following a routine test at the October 1998 Hawaii Ironman race.

Speaking from his training base in Spain, Smith reacted to the news

"It’s a fantastic feeling to have proved my innocence. But I’ve had to do that now at three separate hearings so it’s been a difficult time for me and my family. Now I can get on with my life without carrying this huge burden on my shoulders. It’s difficult to shake off the stigma of such an allegation but I’ve won all three rounds of my fight so I feel totally vindicated."

Smith had been placed 5th at the Hawaii event. Then in November 1998 he was told by his own federation the British Triathlon Association (BTA) that tests carried out at the IOC accredited laboratory in Los Angeles had shown up traces of the prohibited substance nandrolone. There has been a dramatic increase in reported nandrolone positive results in a number of sports, particularly athletics. An independent BTA disciplinary panel cleared Smith in March 1999, saying that there was no case for him to answer due to lack of evidence. The USAT, the body which had sanctioned the 1999 Hawaii race, appealed to the appeals board of the sport’s world governing body, the International Triathlon Union (ITU), but the appeal was rejected in September 1999, due to the lack of key scientific evidence from the lab. The ITU and USAT took the case on appeal again, this time to the ultimate appeals court, the CAS, based in Switzerland. After a lengthy hearing last Tuesday (March 21) in New York the CAS Panel rejected the latest USAT appeal. The panel’s reasons for its decision have not yet been published.

The panel comprised US attorney Carolyn Witherspoon, German lawyer Dr Christian Krahe and was chaired by Canadian judge, the Hon. Hugh Fraser. Smith was accompanied by his manager, Robert Burnell, and was represented by his London based lawyer, Tony Morton-Hooper of Mishcon de Reya. Morton-Hooper worked closely with Burnell on Smith’s defence strategy and had successfully argued the case for Smith at the previous two hearings.

Burnell added

"The ITU and USAT kept saying they wanted all the evidence to be heard and they were confident it seemed of victory. But when all the evidence was produced it just underlined all the errors and mistakes in the whole testing process. At the hearing before the CAS it was revealed by the lab director Dr Don Catlin that a mistake had been made in some vital calculations, a mistake apparently not noticed until the last minute. Spencer has had a rough time of it. It’s always difficult to find the proof when you maintain your innocence because you’re up against powerful and politically motivated bodies who run the sport. It was very clear to me that ITU Secretary General Mark Sisson, in the face of the evidence, was pushing hard for Spencer to be banned but he’s been shown to be wrong. The way he’s handled things I think he should be now be considering his own position. Steve Locke, USAT’s Executive Director, didn’t even turn up at the hearing which tells me he was Sisson’s puppet in all this – so he needs to think again about the USAT’s hounding of Spencer. The sport needs to be run by people who are above personal grudges. The rules are tough (and rightly so) but every man and woman is entitled to a fair treatment when accused of something as serious as this. They shouldn’t become the subject of a witch-hunt by powerful governing bodies. However Spencer can hold his head up now and get on with his career. There’s no good reason to keep him out of the Olympics – and that’s been part of the problem because he’s a real contender and I’m sure there were plenty of people who wanted him out of the way."

Spencer acknowledged the support he had received from Burnell (who he nicknames the Boltman), Morton-Hooper, from his mother Barbara, wife Melissa, all his UK and US based family, Jenny Burnell, sponsors*, also Stuart Fish, Paula-Newby Frazer, Paul Huddle, the Linda McCartney team and the many people who wrote in with their encouragement.

*Sponsors: Met-Rx, Saucony, Speedo Europe, Speedo US, Speclized, Zipp Wheels.

(RELATED STORY)

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Spencer cleared for third time on dope rap

March 27, Denia, Spain (www.triathlonlive.com):

England’s Spencer Smith, twice already a winner in hearings for an adverse drug test in October 1998, learned today that he won his third and biggest hearing, this one before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The ruling determined that Smith, who has given up triathlon for pro cycling, was innocent of using nandrolone, the banned steroid. The case reached the highest levels of the sport last Wednesday, when the International Triathlon Union and USA Triathlon joined forces in appealing two rulings in his favor.

Smith and his London attorney, Tony Morton-Hooper, were not expecting a decision so soon after last Tuesday’s hearing in New York City. They were informed by fax of the panel’s 2-1 decision for Smith.

A three-time world triathlon champion, Smith is understandably ecstatic. “This is a fantastic feeling,” Smith told Triathlonlive.com from Denia, his home on the Spanish coast. “Now I can get on with my life, for I no longer have that weight on my shoulders. I can race as a free man.

“The decision hasn’t really sunk in yet. It’s not just something I was only dreaming about; it’s the only decision we were looking for, the only decision we knew was correct.”

The decision came after an extended, 11-hour hearing for which USAT and ITU called four witnesses. While Smith says he does not yet know the actual reasons behind the decision, he surmises that it could involve the in-court admission by Dr. Don Caitlin, the head of the UCLA laboratory that tested his sample after he placed fifth in the Hawaii Ironman, that a mistake was made.

Caitlin revealed during questioning that he had recorded one of Smith’s sample as containing 8ng of nandrolone, rather than the more-precise 3ng. Smith says he heard of the corrected information only during that hearing.

“Caitlin knows his job, but he made a mistake,” Smith said. “It’s scary to think that these people think they are above making mistakes. He shrugged it off as if it was nothing, that it didn’t matter. But it did matter. I don’t give a damn how good he is in his field: This was my career, my reputation, at stake. Of course it mattered.”

Smith endured three hearings total in maintaining and proving his innocence. The first, before the British Triathlon Association, determined a year ago this month that he “had no case to answer.” The second, last September, occurred after the USAT -- which had sanctioned the race in which Smith had provided a positive sample -- appealed the BTA ruling before an ITU panel. That panel, too, determined that no drug offense had occurred.

This third hearing was scheduled after the USAT and ITU together wanted the case heard a third time before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

News of Smith’s win traveled fast today, with his current sponsor, the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team, the first to issue an official statement.

Smith and Morton-Hooper are expected to issue a formal statement on Tuesday.

The ITU and USAT are slower to react. Reached just hours after the decision, ITU secretary general Mark Sisson would say only: "I've heard a rumor. I don't want to comment until I see the written report."

The decision is understandably a blow to ITU and to Sisson, who has championed for a clean sport for years. He has, on numerous occasions, stated that he bears no ill will toward Smith, nor would he personally take any joy in the prospect of Smith being found guilty.

Triathlonlive.com will continue to follow this story.

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USAT vs. Spencer Smith yesterday

March 22, New York City, New York, USA (www.triathlonlive.com):

Britain's Spencer Smith, the superstar triathlete who has now given up the sport for cycling, and his attorney were expected to spend all day Tuesday defending his case. It is the last step in Smith's long saga of a positive drug test from October 1998.

Smith and lawyer Tony Morton-Hooper flew in from London for in-person appearances before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS usually conducts its hearings in its Swiss home of Lausanne, but occasionally makes use of its extensions in both New York and Sydney. The case had reached sport's highest levels after the United States Triathlon Association appealed after losing a hearing at the ITU level over the matter last September. That hearing took the form of a teleconference.

The dispute dates back to the 1998 Hawaii Ironman, when Smith's sample turned up a positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. A year ago this month, the British Triathlon Association conducted its hearing against Smith, and determined the triathlete "had no case to answer." USAT, however, followed-up with an appeal to ITU, because the drug infraction had occurred at a USAT-sanctioned race.

The USAT's witness list in New York -- in the Madison Avenue offices -- was expected to number four: Mark Sisson, chair of ITU's Doping Committee; Dr. Elmo Alexander, a USOC physician who was in charge of the doping tests conducted at the race; Dr. Don Caitlin, director of the UCLA lab that handled the sample; and Dr. Larry Bowers, director of the IOC-approved lab in Indianapolis.

Going in to the hearing, Morton-Hooper stopped short of providing any details of a settlement that the USAT had apparently floated a few weeks in advance of the CAS date. "It would be inappropriate to comment on that, although I can't deny that," Morton-Hooper said.

He added: "We are looking forward to this hearing, and we are going in with confidence."

A decision from the three-person panel of arbitrators is not expected for several weeks.

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CAS date for USAT-ITU postponed

February 2, Colorado Springs, Colorado (www.triathlonlive.com):

Because the attorney representing Britain’s Spencer Smith in his doping defense was unavailable for the February 14 date that the Court of Arbitration for Sport selected, the hearing was postponed, as of Tuesday.

The hearing was set for New York, where a three-member CAS panel was to hear USA Triathlon’s appeal of the ITU’s decision from September. That's when a three-member ITU panel dismissed the USAT’s claim of a doping offense committed by Smith. Smith, who has since quit triathlon for cycling, tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone after the 1998 Hawaii Ironman. He has maintained his innocence through two hearings, one at the national federation level and the other at the ITU level.

Tony Morton-Hooper, of London’s prestigious Mischon deReya firm, had told CAS that the choice of February 14 conflicted with the opening date of a major court trial in London.

“Under normal circumstances, February 14 would be convenient," he said. "But this is a big trial, one we expect to last six weeks. I simply couldn't be away for the first day."

A trio of attorneys will hear the USAT’s argument that Smith did commit a doping offense, and that the ITU's decision did not reflect all the features of the case. Those men are Perry Toles of Roswell, New Mexico, who has conducted camps for USAT's best junior triathletes the last several summers; Christian Kraehe of Ueberlingen, Germany, who has served on CAS arbitration panels before; and the chair of the tribunal, Judge Hugh Fraser of Ontario.

The hearing has not yet been rescheduled.

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Smith faring well, so far

February 2, Langkawi, Malaysia (www.triathlonlive.com):

As the lawyers line up and prepare their cases for Spencer Smith's third hearing on his alleged doping offense, Smith himself is far away in Malaysia -- making a so-far successful debut as a pro cyclist with the Linda McCartney team. Smith has been racing this last week with considerable success in his debut event, the 11-stage Tour of Langkawi across Malaysia.

He fell behind the main pack on only the fourth stage, arriving some six minutes behind the rest -- largely because of a puncture at a bad moment. John Deering, media manager for the Linda McCartney team, said on Tuesday: "He's getting better every day - he's been attacking a fair bit yesterday and today."

After Wednesday's stage, Smith stands 57th overall in the 149-rider field, the fifth of the six Linda McCartney members. He finished the race's longest stage, 243 km, among the pack after the riders averaged over 42 km/h for nearly six hours. Fortunately, he was not among the 30 racers -- three of them in Linda McCartney colors -- who went down together within sight of the finish line.

The race may be followed in full via the Cycling News website.

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Spencer Smith formally forgoes triathlon for a pro cyclist's life

December 20, Pibrac, France (www.triathlonlive.com):

One of the world's best known triathletes has turned his back on the sport to become a professional cyclist. In a coup for Britain's top cycling squad, Spencer Smith has signed for the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team.

The signing at the end of 1999 allowed Smith to honor his previous contracts with various triathlon sponsors with grace. It had been long-rumored that Smith would be joining the British team at its French training base.

"Ever since I was a junior I've regarded cycling as my long term career," Smith said of the move. "I'm still only 26, so this is the time to do it: now or never."

"We've been trailing Spencer for a year now," revealed team manager Sean Yates. "We first spoke to him in 1998, because I'd heard of his ambition to make it in cycling, and I wanted to make sure that if that happened, Linda McCartney would be his destination."

Smsith was Britain's first well-known triathlete, and the UK's first triathlon world champion when he won the Junior World Championship twice in the early '90s. He has since gone on to win numerous events around the globe, and has found fame and fortune through the rapidly emerging sport.

However, the road has not always been smooth, and Smith was among the first to object when the triathlon authorities decided to allow "drafting," where one cyclist is allowed to take a tow from another, during elite triathlon races. This seriously disadvantages the stronger cyclists, as others can cling to their coat-tails and turn the whole event into a running race at the end. Then, last summer, when despite twice being found innocent of any wrongdoing, the International Triathlon Union continued to hound Smith over a flawed positive drug test. The alleged substance was the notorious nandrolone, the focus of so many dubious tests in several sports recently. Anyone who has watched the powerfully built Smith struggle to keep his bulk down in his triathlon years would find it incredible to believe.

"If I had something to hide, I certainly wouldn't become a cyclist," Smith reasoned. "The testing in cycling is the most stringent in any sport in the world. They lead the way. Linda McCartney are known as the Clean Machine, and I want people to know that I'm part of that."

True to his dedication, Smith spent the autumn and winter training ferociously for the transition. "I need to be sure that I can get the trip okay in the longer races," is how he explains his regular 6-hour rides at a time when many cyclists are winding down their training.

Triathlon has made Spencer a wealthy sportsman, but he has decided to spurn the riches to forge a new career in cycling. "I know that I can do it. It's going to be really hard, I'm putting my reputation and career on the line, but I have no fear, because I know I can do it."

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USA Triathlon readies its appeal against Spencer Smith's doping case

December 17, Colorado Springs, Colorado (www.triathlonlive.com):

The doping case involving Spencer Smith and USA Triathlon will find its way soon to the IOC's Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS), USAT executive director Steve Locke said.

According to Locke, USA Triathlon sometime ago completed the filing of briefs regarding the case to CAS, and Smith's attorney has completed the filing of his answer to the complaint. It is unknown at this time where the venue will be located or the date of the arbitration. The CAS hears most of its cases at its home in Lausanne. However, USAT is trying to have the case heard in the USA, where the CAS has representation. Denver, Colorado, would be the USAT's preferred venue.

Spencer Smith has reportedly signed with a pro cycling team and will
presumably will not be racing triathlons in 2000.