Report: Track star testifies he used steroids, was told Barry Bonds did too

Report: Track star testifies he used steroids, was told Barry Bonds did too

JOSH DUBOW, Associated Press Writer. Associated Press . New York: Jun 24, 2004. pg. 1

Copyright Associated Press Jun 24, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Track star Tim Montgomery testified last year that he used performance-enhancing drugs, and also said the man at the center of a Bay Area ring told him he supplied slugger Barry Bonds with steroids, according to a newspaper report.

Szeged hotel roomsThe San Francisco Chronicle's report in Thursday editions includes direct quotes from Montgomery's testimony to the federal grand jury that investigated the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

The newspaper did not say how it obtained the information. It is illegal to give grand jury testimony to the media.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency plans to seek a lifetime ban against Montgomery for alleged drug violations, according to two sources familiar with the letter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Glasgow hotelsMontgomery, the world's fastest man at 100 meters, was among dozens of elite athletes _ including Bonds, New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi and Montgomery's girlfriend, Olympian Marion Jones _ who testified.

Montgomery's lawyer, Cristina Arguedas, lashed out at the leak of her client's secret testimony from Nov. 6.

"No one can legally or legitimately have Tim's grand jury testimony, and if they think they have it, I would like to see it," Arguedas told the Chronicle. "Otherwise, there's no way I can respond to these blind allegations, and I'm not going to comment on it."

Montgomery reportedly testified that in 2001, BALCO founder Victor Conte gave him weekly doses of human growth hormone and a substance called "the clear." That substance was later to be determined to be THG, a previously undetectable steroid at the center of the BALCO scandal, which now threatens to keep some of America's top sprinters out of the Athens Olympics.

They include Michelle Collins, Alvin Harrison and Chryste Gaines, who have all been accused by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of steroid use.

Montgomery said Conte began giving him banned substances soon after the 2000 Olympics, and he followed the regiment for about eight months, the newspaper reported. He said he got no benefit from "the clear" and split with Conte in September 2001 over a money dispute. He set a world record of 9.78 seconds in the 100 meters the following year.

Montgomery also gave secondhand testimony implicating Bonds, the San Francisco Giants' slugger who has hit the third most home runs in baseball history. According to the Chronicle, Montgomery was asked during his testimony about Conte's dealings with Bonds, telling the grand jury that Conte said he gave the outfielder the steroid Winstrol.

Montgomery also testified that Conte told him Bonds switched to an undetectable steroid in 2003 when baseball introduced its drug policy.

"I have reason to have serious doubts about the accuracy of all that," Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, told the Chronicle. "I doubt very much that Conte would be talking about anything he's giving to anybody."

A message left by The Associated Press at Rains' office late Wednesday night was not immediately returned.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

People:	Bonds, Barry, Montgomery, Tim, Conte, Victor
Dateline:	SAN FRANCISCO
Besenova Top-HotelsText Word Count	488

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