Banned sprinter implicates doctor in steroids cover-up

SAN FRANCISCO -- Disgraced sprinter Kelli White, one of several athletes at the center of the BALCO scandal, claims a doctor diagnosed her with narcolepsy to cover up her use of a banned stimulant -- even though she never had the sleep disorder, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on its Web site Monday.

The paper, quoting grand jury transcripts, also said world champion sprinter Tim Montgomery testified that Dr. Brian Goldman wrote a steroids prescription for him under a false name so it wouldn't be traceable.

White told the newspaper that Goldman publicly stated she had a sleep disorder, but that was part of a false story devised by Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative head Victor Conte. In August 2003, White tested positive for modafinil after winning gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter sprints during the World Track and Field Championships in Paris. Last year, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspended White from competition for two years.

According to White, within hours of testing positive, she phoned Conte, who told her to issue the false statement saying she took the drug for narcolepsy.

"It sounded good," White told the Chronicle. "It was a story that Victor told me to use."

White said Goldman called her soon after and helped make up the story for the press conference on Aug. 30, 2003.

"And that was my first time ever meeting, or speaking, to Dr. Goldman," White told the Chronicle.

White admitted to taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs in May 2004, and accepted a two-year drug ban that cost her a trip to the Athens Olympics and every medal she'd won in the previous four years.

Goldman was an associate of Conte, who, along with three others, were indicted in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on steroid conspiracy charges. All have pleaded not guilty. Goldman, a psychiatrist, hasn't been charged.

During several telephone conversations with the Chronicle, Goldman declined to discuss White and denied Montgomery's account.

"There's just no story here," Goldman told the newspaper in a June 25, 2004, interview. "I don't have anything to hide at all."

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on Goldman to the Chronicle in regard to the BALCO case. Robert Holley, Conte's lawyer, also declined to comment.

According to the Chronicle, Montgomery testified about Goldman during his Nov. 6, 2003, appearance before the grand jury investigating BALCO.

The newspaper, which didn't state how it obtained the testimony, reported that Montgomery said under oath that Conte gave him a steroid called "the clear," and that Goldman wrote him a prescription under a false name for Clomid, which helped boost testosterone production.

Montgomery, the world record holder at 100 meters, hasn't publicly admitted to taking steroids.

While he has never tested positive for drugs, Montgomery has been charged by the USADA and faces a lifetime ban if found guilty. The USADA charged Montgomery based on evidence gathered in the BALCO case.