Masters Track News and Muse

Robert Koop, a German lawyer married to a world champion masters middle-distance runner (Annette Koop of Web site fame), is sadly reporting what he calls "the worst case" for the German masters scene. Three German masters -- including a world record holder in shot and discus -- have been suspended for doping violations. But what makes this latest leak interesting is that German authorities gave substantive details.

The German newspaper Die Welt reports that German M50 sprinter Josef Muschinski has been on physician-prescribed hormone therapy since about 1997, and that his positive test for testosterone at a September national team championships -- and subsequent suspension by German authorities -- may have been a mistake. He supposedly had a waiver in the past to compete while taking the drug, if I read my translations correctly. Kathy Jager, you'll recall, was suspended for testosterone use after the Gateshead world meet.

A German newspaper -- the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger -- has weighed in on the doping accusations against M40 thrower Ralf Prochnau, whose picture appears on the site with his two young daughters, and M50 runner Josef Muschinski. An accompanying interview with German track official Tanja Haug is revealing in that Haug seems to toe the IAAF line that a few innocent medical-need dopers caught in the net are worth it in the fight against performance-enhanced cheating. The story also reveals that of six athletes tested at the German masters team championships, three came up positive.