DeMont suing Olympic Committee

By Associated Press
Arizona Daily Wildcat
June 5, 1996

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Arizona swim coach Rick DeMont, who won an Olympic gold medal and then lost it over a failed drug test, is suing the U.S. Olympic Committee in an attempt to get back the medal and his reputation.

The filing in U.S. District Court is the latest step in a 24-year quest for DeMont, a University of Arizona assistant swimming coach whose appeal for medal reinstatement has been rejected twice by the International Olympic Committee.

The 30-page complaint alleges that the USOC was a fiduciary, or trustee, for DeMont at the 1972 Summer Games and breached its position of trust by mishandling DeMont's disclosure of the types of medicine he was taking to control his lifelong asthma proble ms.

DeMont also claims he was libeled by Anita DeFrantz, the USOC's delegate to the IOC. The suit, filed Friday, seeks unspecified damages.

DeMont, 40, was a skinny teen-ager allergic to wheat and fur when he won the 400-meter freestyle at the Munich Olympics. He was taking the drugs Marax and Actifed as well as receiving weekly shots to control his allergies, and he listed them on his medica l statement. But the information never got to the IOC.

The international group stripped him of the medal, because both medications contained ephedrine, a banned stimulant.

The international group stripped him of the medal, because both medications contained ephedrine, a banned stimulant.

The libel claim stems from DeFrantz's comment that the USOC was never notified DeMont was asthmatic or given the amount or type of medication he was taking.

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