Montréal, le 28 janvier 2004 (Sportcom) — Après une année 2003 où il a réussi sa percée internationale en battant notamment le recordman mondial de sa spécialité, l’Américain Tim Montgomery, le sprinter Nicolas Macrozonaris se prépare pour sa nouvelle saison internationale qui s’amorcera samedi, à Boston. L’année 2003 a été déterminante pour le Lavallois qui, grâce à ses résultats, a forcé plusieurs personnes à apprendre correctement son patronyme.

La saison en salle n’est qu’une étape vers les Jeux olympiques d’Athènes pour l’homme le plus rapide au pays. « Je ne me suis jamais aussi bien préparé. Après les championnats du monde de Paris, j’ai fait mes plans et je me suis bien installé dans mon nouvel appartement. On se prépare pour Athènes et ma saison en salle n’est pas une fin en soi », a expliqué celui qui travaille sous la gouverne de Daniel St-Hilaire. « Pour les Jeux olympiques, j’aime y aller par étapes. Faire la finale à Athènes, c’est un de mes buts. Une fois en finale, on ne sait pas, je pourrais peut-être gagner une médaille. »

Maintenant sous les réflecteurs

En pratiquant l’épreuve reine de l’athlétisme, Macrozonaris est passé du statut de l’athlète amateur inconnu à celui de personnalité publique. « C’est tout nouveau pour moi et j’apprécie beaucoup. Ça fait partie de ce que je fais et ça vient avec le sport. »

Cette situation peut cependant engendrer quelques inconvénients. « Quand je sortais avec mes amis, des gens me mettaient au défi et voulaient faire des courses contre moi avec leur auto ! » commente en riant l’athlète interviewé samedi dernier après sa victoire sur 60 m à la rencontre de l’Université McGill, épreuve où il a enregistré un temps de 6,68 secondes. « Maintenant, je ne sors plus. Je reste chez moi et je me repose. »

 Son contrat signé avec un important fabricant sportif lui permet désormais de se préparer dans des conditions optimales. « Ça fait une grosse différence de pouvoir compter sur un entraîneur et un massothérapeute à temps plein. En 2002, c’était vraiment difficile pour un athlète comme moi. Cette année, je peux m’entraîner sérieusement et sans problème », soutient celui qui est représenté par son ex-coéquipier Bruny Surin.

Macrozonaris et le relais 4x100 m
 

En ce qui concerne le relais, où le Lavallois avait été écarté du quatuor des championnats du monde à cause d’une mésentente avec l’entraîneur Glenroy Gilbert, le principal intéressé croit que cette situation ne se reproduira plus à l’avenir.

« J’ai parlé avec Glenroy Gilbert et il m’a dit qu’il avait fait des erreurs. Ce n’est pas juste moi ou lui qui avons été dans le tort. Je trouve que c’est triste cette mauvaise communication et la façon dont ils m’ont traité aux derniers Mondiaux. Si je suis dans la même position cette année, nous allons trouver une entente », soutient Macrozonaris, conscient qu’une meilleure communication pourra régler bien des différends.

Le champion canadien du 100m et 200m, qui s’entraînait spécifiquement pour les sections droites du 4x100 m, affirme qu’il modifiera sa façon de se préparer : « Je vais pratiquer les virages, pas seulement les droits. Je vais être préparé alors il ne devrait pas y avoir de problème. L’an dernier, j’ai paniqué quand j’ai su que j’allais courir la courbe alors que je n’avais pas travaillé ces sections. »

 Des chronos à la hausse
 

L’année 2003 a surtout été marquée par les temps plus lents que par le passé. Le chrono de 10,07 secondes qui a permis à Kim Collins de remporter le titre mondial dans la capitale française était un des plus lents depuis bien des années. Selon Macrozonaris, 23e à l’échelle mondiale, ce n’est pas cette saison que les sprinters recommenceront à franchir la barre des dix secondes de façon régulière.

 « Peut-être on va voir des temps sous les dix secondes, mais pas beaucoup. Les coureurs sont soit trop vieux ou trop jeunes. Il n’y a personne dans le milieu », a analysé le demi-finaliste des derniers championnats du monde. « En plus, la piste de Paris n’était pas très rapide. »

Avant de retrouver les pistes de 100 m, Macrozonaris aura l’occasion de se mesurer dès samedi aux John Capel (cinquième au monde), Mickey Grimes (16e), Jon Drummond (22e) et compagnie sur 60 m.

 Rédaction : Mathieu Laberge

posted January 29 @ 15:11, EST LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - A test for human growth hormone is almost complete and most likely will be introduced at the Athens Olympics. Human growth hormone, which was previously undetectable, is considered one of the most widely used banned substances in sports. Even if the test is not ready for Athens, officials will be able to retest samples later to punish cheaters retroactively. "We've never been so close to having a test in our hands," Olivier Rabin, science director of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said Thursday. Human growth hormone, or hGH, works like an anabolic steroid, building muscle mass and helping athletes recover from training faster. Although hGH has been around for decades, standard doping controls haven't been able to distinguish between the naturally produced hormone and the synthetic version used by cheaters. Attempts to devise a test for hGH have dragged on for years, with a number of projects stalled by lack of funding. Rabin said WADA is in the final phase of validating two hGH tests developed by scientists in Britain and Germany. Both involve blood, not urine, tests. WADA will not announce when or if the test is ready, preferring to keep the drug cheats guessing. Rabin said WADA could also have new tests for blood-based oxygen carriers, illegal blood transfusions, insulin and new steroids. "There will be new substances detected in Athens, there's no question about that," Rabin said. "We hope hGH is one of them. But we don't want to tell the athletes when it's coming." Rabin stressed that if a test is not used in Athens, it will be put into practice shortly after the Olympics. The Athens samples will be stored and re analysed for hGH once the test is completed, he said. Retesting of drug samples took place in several sports last year following the unmasking of the steroid THG. Rabin said WADA had evidence that at least one other steroid devised specifically to avoid detection was circulating in sports. "We are asking labs if they see any unusual readings to keep the samples and retest them to identify any unique pattern," he said.

Canada's best Olympic hope in 100 metres takes gold in first competition of season
 
RANDY PHILLIPS 
The Gazette

Sunday, January 25, 2004

Canada's top sprinter, Nicolas Macrozonaris, figures to be better in 2004 because of lessons learned from last summer's much-publicized dispute with national team coach Glenroy Gilbert.

The 23-year-old, national 100-metre champion from Laval was kicked off the sprint-relay team at the world track and field championships in Paris last August.

Gilbert dropped Macrozonaris from the 4x100 relay team because the runner had failed to "fulfill the squad's training obligations." Macrozonaris also refused to run a leg other than the anchor in the relay.

For Macrozonaris, the stink was all about corners and running them.

"I admit I was scared to run the corners," Macrozonaris said yesterday, in the spotlight at the ninth McGill University Team Challenge track and field meet.

"The way things came out last year was because of bad communication. It became a huge issue and I didn't really get my point out.

"At the Commonwealth Games in 2002, they replaced me because I didn't run the corner well. And last year I didn't practise running the corner. Really, the only time I did was in one 200 (Canadian championship) which I won."

Macrozonaris plans to run more 200-metre events this season, meaning more practice time. It also means that if asked, he'll run whatever the coach wants.

Macrozonaris was one of three world-class participants in yesterday's meet, which featured more than 360 athletes from 14 universities from Quebec, Ontario and New York. And he didn't disappoint in his first competition of the new season.

He won gold in the 60-metre, his speciality indoors, in a time of 6.68 seconds, which was 0.12 off the event record he set in 2002. Later, he finished second in the 200, behind American invitee Jimmy Hackley, who won in a fieldhouse-record time of 21.03.

Hackley, from Gainesville, Fla., is managed by former Canadian 100-metre champion Bruny Surin, who is also Macrozonaris's agent.

"A lot of people have said I have the physique for the 200, so I'm going to try to run it more," said Macrozonaris, who clocked a time of a 21.39 in an event that saw Hank Palmer, 18, of Dollard des Ormeaux, place fifth in 21.72 after trying to run with a sore toe.

"I know that if I practise and run (the 200) more often, I'll be able to run the corners more efficiently," Macrozonaris said. "By doing that I'll increase my level of endurance for the 100."

Macrozonaris will begin his international indoor campaign in earnest next weekend at the Golden Spike in Boston.

Canada's best hope for a medal in the 100 metres at this year's Summer Olympics in Athens, he beat world-record holder Tim Montgomery of the U.S. at the Mexican Grand Prix in the summer, running a personal-best time of 10.03 to capture his first Grand Prix title.

rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com

Dave Deibert 
The StarPhoenix

It'll be ladies night every night at this year's Knights of Columbus Indoor Games.

While last year's event featured a star-studded cast of male competitors, the 39th annual K of C Games, which run Feb. 6-8 at the Saskatoon Field House, will bring together as impressive a roster of female athletes as the meet has seen in a long time.

"It's pretty exciting," says Scott St. Pierre, one of the meet organizers.

The 50- and 60-metre women's sprints will be, by themselves, worth admission, he added.

The main attraction will once again be 15-year-old phenom Jenni Hucul.

The Grade 10 Bishop Mahoney student has already become a must-see racer at any big event in which she's entered in Saskatoon the past year. At last year's K of C Games, where she placed second in the 50 and third in the 60, and the junior national championships last July at Griffiths Stadium, attendance surged noticeably for every one of Hucul's races.

She's excited to once again be competing in the invitational portion of the K of C Games.

"It's a great start for the year," she says.

"It's a confidence booster to get some good races."

Hucul will have plenty of competition. Savatheda Fynes of the Bahamas was ranked fourth in the world last year in the 50 metres and sixth in the 60.

Canada's Philomena Mensah is the K of C record holder in both the 50 and 60.

Agne Eggerth of Lithuania won both events at the 2000 K of C, and has already qualified for the 2004 Olympics. Teneeshia Jones of the U.S. is ranked No. 1 in her country in the 50, and is defending champ in the 50 and 60 at K of C.

Other women to watch include Canadian Leah Pells in the 1,000 metres; Calgary's Whitney Evans, who won the NCAA women's high jump championship last year as a member of the Washington State Cougars; and local pole vaulters Kelsie Hendry and Adrianne Vangool.

Hendry is the defending K of C champion, while Vangool took the junior national championship last summer and competed at the junior Pan-Am Games.

Almost every top male Canadian sprinter will make the trip to Saskatoon.

Nicolas Macrozonaris, Anson Henry, Pierre Brown, Okiki Akinremi, Hank Palmer and Robert Esmie, who is attempting a comeback, will be blazing down the track next month.

The men's schedule includes the 50, 60, 200 and 400 metres, 60 hurdles and weight throw. Women's events include the 50, 60 and 1,000 metres, pole vault, high jump and 60 hurdles.

Nicolas is scheduled to open his 2004 indoor season at the Boston Indoor Games on Saturday, January 31, where he will compete in the 60m sprint. He may also run a preparatory race in Montreal in mid-January.

Boston is the first stop on USATF's Indoor Golden Spike Tour, and will be broadcast live on ESPN2, from 6-7pm EST.

The 2004 season gets under way in the midst of a drug scandal. News headlines the last few months reported to the world the discovery of a previously undetectable designer steroid called "tetrahydrogestrinone" (THG). Several athletes across the sports spectrum, including several high-profile track and field athletes, have been named.

From the outset of his athletic career, Nicolas has been an outspoken critic of drug use in sport. It is unfortunate that in the past he may have competed in fields and against athletes that were not "clean". Nicolas applauds the discovery of THG and is also hopeful that a test for the currently undetectable human growth hormone (HGH) will be ready in time for the Athens Olympics. To that end, and following reports that HGH researchers need a wide ranging blood sample pool in developing a test, Nicolas is willing to submit his own sample in the hope it helps bring us one step closer to a drug free sport and a level playing field!

We would like to wish all our fans a happy 2004, and we hope this new year brings good health, peace and prosperity to all.