GERMANY: TOP GERMAN CYCLIST JAN ULLRICH ADMITS TAKING AMPHETAMINE PILLS BUT DENIES IT WAS TO BOOST HIS PERFORMANCE
Record ID:
646650
GERMANY: TOP GERMAN CYCLIST JAN ULLRICH ADMITS TAKING AMPHETAMINE PILLS BUT DENIES IT WAS TO BOOST HIS PERFORMANCE
- Title: GERMANY: TOP GERMAN CYCLIST JAN ULLRICH ADMITS TAKING AMPHETAMINE PILLS BUT DENIES IT WAS TO BOOST HIS PERFORMANCE
- Date: 6th July 2002
- Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (JULY 6, 2002)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. EXTERIOR OF FEDERAL SPORTS BUILDING FOR HESSEN 2. CYCLIST JAN ULLRICH ENTERING PRESS CONFERENCE 3. PHOTOGRAPHERS 4. (SOUNDBITE) (German) DEUTSCHE TELEKOM RIDER, JAN ULLRICH SAYING: "I had a drugs test on the 12th of June. The first test was positive, yesterday I informed the Union of German Cyclists that I accepted the first test and didn't want to be tested again. This is the first time in my career that I have tested positive." 5. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 6. (SOUNDBITE) (German) DEUTSCHE TELEKOM RIDER, JAN ULLRICH SAYING: "The night in question I felt very depressed about my knee. I drank some alcohol, I didn't worry about anything and took two tablets. They said it is nothing and they (the pills) will be good for me. They told me there was nothing in the pills to worry about, they told me the pills were harmless. Today, I have to say I was very stupid to believe them. I am always very careful that my water bottles are not tampered with. Again it was very stupid of me to take these pills and I cannot understand it, perhaps because I was not in training I thought nothing would happen. I have not deceived anyone, so I was shocked about this positive drugs test." 7. CLOSEUP OF TEAM TELEKOM SPOKESMAN, OLAF LUDWIG (LEFT) AND SPORTS DOCTOR, HUBERT HOERTERER 8. (SOUNDBITE) (German) DEUTSCHE TELEKOM RIDER, JAN ULLRICH SAYING: "It has always been difficult for me not to take part, It was my aim to win the Tour de France this year. I will not watch the Tour de France on television this year because I must deal with my personal problems first, I cannot watch the others cycling. It is very hard for me to to watch it. I will be with some friends and Gabi (girlfriend), and will clear my head." 9. JOURNALISTS 10. SOUNDBITE (German) SPORTS DOCTOR, HUBERT HOERTERER SAYING: "Jan Ullrich, in taking these pills has disadvantaged himself personally but it was not to create an advantage over his colleagues. He has not broken the basic rules of fair play in sport. It is not a case of doping, it was human weakness." 11. SIDE SHOT PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM 12. (SOUNDBITE) (German) TEAM TELEKOM SPOKESMAN, OLAF LUDWIG SAYING: "It was a very foolish thing for him to do. Now he has to live with the consequences, but it was definitely not doping. We will not sack him, as the sponsor we have a social responsibility for the person Jan Ullrich. In the past we have celebrated huge successes with him. We stand by him through this hard situation." 13. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 21st July 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Reuters ID: LVA4CZLHTAZ16OXE60CD3NWSX927
- Story Text: Top German cyclist Jan Ullrich, who tested positive for an
amphetamine, has said he accepted the result and
admitted taking pills at a disco the night before the test.
Ullrich, who tested positive on June 12 while recovering
from a knee operation at a rehabilitation clinic in
Bad Wiessee, south of Munich, said at a press conference on
Saturday (July 6) that he took the pills in a personal crisis
but denied it was to boost his performance.
The 1997 Tour de France winner, the first German to
achieve the feat, faces a sports jury trial that could result
in a one-year suspension, although his Deutsche
Telekom-sponsored team said it would not sack its top rider.
"This is the first time in my career that I have tested
positive." Ullrich told a news conference in Frankfurt.
"Yesterday I informed the Union of German Cyclists that I
accepted the first test and didn't want to be tested again."
Ullrich had been given until midnight on Friday to decide
whether he wanted the B-test on a second sample.
The cyclist said he did not know who gave him the pills,
and did not even know what they were.
"They said it is nothing and they (the pills) will be good
for me," Ullrich said.
Ullrich had pulled out of this year's Tour de France, due
to start on Saturday, after undergoing knee surgery on May 28
to cure a problem he has had since late last year.
Ullrich said he had become frustrated after he tried to
return to full training several times this year.
The positive drug test is the latest blow to a rider who
seems to have been followed by bad news in recent months.
In June, a court banned Ullrich from driving for a year
after he knocked over a rack and some bikes with his Porsche
outside a hotel in southern Germany in the early hours of May
1.
He fled the scene and was later found to have had three
times the permitted level of alcohol in his blood.
Ullrich said he now intends to visit friends, relax and
forget about cycling for a while.
"I will not watch the Tour de France on television this
year," he said. "I cannot watch the others cycling (in the
Tour)."
Cyclists can be banned for between six and twelve months
for taking amphetamines, however the Deutsche Telekom team,
and his doctor, said they believed this was not a case of
doping.
"It is not a case of doping, it was human weakness," said
Hubert Hoerterer, the physician treating Ullrich.
A spokesman for Team Telekom, which Ullrich joined in
1995, added: "We stand by him through this hard situation.",
said spokesman Olaf Ludwig. "In the past we have celebrated
huge successes with him."
With their most popular rider gone, however, Deutsche
Telekom's board will reconsider what it gains from the 5
million euro ($4.9 US million dollars) sponsorship it provides
to the team.
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