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Marathon record-holder gets American citizenship ■The runner gained his U.S. citizenship, but it is still uncertain whether he can run for the United States By Bert Rosenthal The Associated Press Khalid Khannouchi, the marathon world record-holder, was sworn in as a U.S. citizen Tuesday, but it was uncertain whether he could compete for the United States at the Olympics if he made the team. Blocking the way could be the International Olympic Committee and the Moroccan Olympic Com mittee. IOC rules state that an athlete must wait three years to compete for his new country. That period can be reduced or eliminated only if three parties agree: the pre vious national Olympic commit tee, track’s international ruling body and the IOC. The general secretary of the Moroccan federation, Abdellatif el Jazouli, suggested Morocco would not approve. “We have not been contacted,” he told The Associated Press. “Nobody has asked us anything. If there is an official request, we will put it to our federal council to decide. “For us, the rules must be ap plied. It’s not up to the IAAF. It’s up to the national federation.” Giorgio Reineri, a spokesman for the ruling IAAF, said the three-year rule does not apply. He said an athlete must be a citizen of the new country to compete for that country, unless he or she has competed for the former country in the past three years. The last time the 28-year-old Khannouchi ran for Morocco was at the 1993 World University Games at Buffalo, N.Y. Khannouchi, who had been hoping to obtain his U.S. citizen ship since arriving in the United ( ( This is a great day to finally happen... It’s something we've been working on for over two years. Khalid Khannouchi worid-record holder States in 1993, set his sights on running in Sunday’s U.S. Olympic marathon trials at Pitts burgh. But he has an ankle injury, and his trainer has told him to not race for the next six weeks. Khannouchi will discuss his plans Wednesday in New York. He could decide to run at Pitts burgh or wait until July and com pete in the 10,000 meters in the U.S. Olympic track and field tri als at Sacramento, Calif. “Khalid has had injuries that could curtail his career,” said Ger ard Hartmann, who has been treating Khannouchi in Ireland. “There’s no way he should run the marathon trials, although as Sandra (Khannouchi’s wife) says, he could run 2:12 in his sleep.” A time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, might be good enough to earn Khannouchi a place on the three man U.S. team. Khannouchi would not discuss his intentions Tuesday at a City Hall ceremony in Houston, where he was made an honorary citizen of the city. “This is a great day to finally happen," he said. "It’s something we’ve been working on for over two years. I owe a great responsi bility to the people who made this happen for me and gave me this chance. Now I have the ball, and it is my responsibility to prove that all of this was worth it. "I have a lot of friends here now. I have a new home here. I want to give something back. I still love my country, but I have been treated so well and given so much support here that I want to run for America.” Khannouchi acknowledged the strain of all the developments. . “I want to get with my trainer and talk things over,” he said. “I feel good, but you want to make the right decision. You don’t want to do something that might harm your career.” Khannouchi qualified for citi zenship under a law that enables spouses of U.S. citizens working abroad for an American company to achieve citizenship regardless of the three-year residency re quirement. Last month, his wife accepted a job overseas with a U.S. firm. Millions might miss the Derby ■ UnlessTime Warner and ABC strike a deal, the Indy 500 and NHL playoff games could be blacked out By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press NEW YORK — Hockey and horse racing fans are rooting for ABC and Time Warner to come to an agreement by this weekend. NHL playoff games and two of ABC’s signature events, thorough bred racing’s Triple Crown series and the Indy 500, could be blacked out for about 3.5 million viewers around the country. The Walt Disney Co., ABC’s corporate parent, is fighting over how much money Time Warner must give Disney for the right to carry some of its cable channels. The dispute over transmission rights left seven ABC stations off local cable systems, including ones in New York and Los Ange les, as of Monday. Unless an agreement can be reached, Saturday’s Kentucky Derby — the last of 26 straight shown by ABC — won’t be avail able to cable subscribers in the af fected areas. “It’s something we have no control over,” said Karl Schmitt, senior VP of Churchill Downs Inc., which owns the track and the Derby itself. “We’re hopeful it all will be resolved before Satur day at 4:30, when the show goes on the air.” Time Warner and ABC have tried for months to reach a new national deal. The old one ex pired Dec. 31. “We’re going ahead as planned. We don’t know what’s going to happen between Disney and Time Warner,” ABC Sports vice president Mark Mandel said to day. “We’re planning on showing the race as we always do.” The blackout comes during a sweeps period, when ratings are used to set local advertising rates. Sweeps began Thursday and end May 24. “It could have a damaging ef fect on ABC Sports,” said Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports and now head of a consult ing firm. Advertisers could ask ABC to compensate them for lost view ers. The network, in the first season of a five-year, $600 million deal it and ESPN have with the NHL, is to air a second-round playoff game Sunday from either the Col orado-Detroit or Pittsburgh Philadelphia series. We bring the storage unit to you. ^ You pack it, we pick it up and store it. We’ll deliver it when you’re ready. Perfect for the summer! 485-2115 For a select few, taking a $125,000 job on Wall Street is not “going out into the real world.” PEACE CORPS How fax are you. willing to go to make a difference? Find out more at the fallowing events: Slide Show and Information Session Ben Linder Room - 1?MU Thursday, May 4,6:30 - 8:00 pm Information Table EMU Wednesday, May 3,9 am - 3 pm Thursday, May 4,9 am - 3 pm Interviews will be held on May 18 & 19. Contact U of 0 campus‘recruiter, Fred Jarman, at (541) 345-6026 for more information or to schedule an interview. www.peacecorps.gov • 1-800-424-8580 Online Classifieds- use this B then use this President Wylie Chen has a Pulse. ou have one? Check your Pulse, the Oregon Daily Emerald's entertainment section, every Thursday.
