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.
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