SYDNEY, Australia — Alexander Bagach of the Ukraine, the 1999 world indoor shot put champion and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist, has been suspended from competition for testing positive for steroids for a third time.
Simon Kemboi, a member of the Kenyan 1,600-meter relay team, also was suspended for testing positive for steroids.
Neither will be allowed to compete in the Sydney Games.
The ruling council of the International Amateur Athletic Federation announced the suspensions Tuesday after an eight-hour meeting.
Bagach, considered a top medal contender in Sydney, tested positive in an out-of-competition exam on Feb. 12. He also tested positive for steroids in 1989 and 1997, according to IAAF president Lamine Diack.
He was suspended pending an arbitration hearing. Because it takes several weeks to convene a hearing, Bagach will not be allowed to compete in Sydney.
The IAAF action came after Bagach was cleared by the Ukraine federation.
Bagach also tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine at the 1997 world championships after appearing to win the competition with a throw of 70 feet, 4 1/4 inches. Bagach was disqualified from the competition but was not suspended. The gold medal went to John Godina of the United States.
Bagach, 33, was ranked second in the world in the shot put in 1998. He was the bronze medalist in the 1999 world outdoor championships and won the gold medal at the European championships this year.
The disqualification of Bagach and the injury to 1999 world outdoor champion C.J. Hunter of the United States leaves the shot put competition short on experienced favorites. The 25-year-old winner of the U.S. trials, Adam Nelson, could emerge with the gold.
Kemboi, 33, tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in a test administered by the World Anti-Doping Agency on Sept. 12 while he was training in Australia. WADA does random out-of-competition on athletes who represent 82 countries in 27 sports. Any track athlete who tests positive for banned substances in an agency test automatically is suspended by the IAAF.
WADA also reported a positive steroid test to Nigerian 800-meter runner Dupe Osime. She was among 45 Nigerian athletes initially chosen for the country's provisional Olympic team but was not among the 30 brought to Sydney.
The council also refused to reconsider the two-year suspension of former Olympic 5,000-meter champion Dieter Baumann of Germany. An arbitration panel ruled Monday that Baumann, a gold medalist at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, should be suspended for twice testing positive for nandrolone.
Baumann contended someone had spiked his toothpaste.
The IAAF also said there was no way Baumann could gain entry to the Olympics through an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, which has convened in Sydney to hear Olympic-related claims. Diack said that the IAAF does not recognize the court although that may change someday.
The German Athletic Federation had cleared Baumann, and federation officials had complained that the IAAF rules did not conform with German law.
"This is not the first time that our rules seem to clash with national law," Diack said through an interpreter. "The same thing happened with Great Britain and several other countries. The only thing we can do is to apply our rules, and they are the same rules for all athletes."
Diack said he knew of no other positive tests by track and field athletes who are scheduled to compete in the Olympics. He noted that there was speculation that some athletes may have withdrawn because of the new tests for the performance-enhancing substance EPO.
"I think this is a very good thing," he said. "I think it shows our tests are really getting stronger."
In other business, the IAAF chose Melbourne, Australia, as the site for the 2001 Grand Prix finals. The meet will follow the Goodwill Games in Brisbane.