Newz Forum: OLYMPICS: Devers to run 100 meters in Athens after Edwards suspended

GEORGIOUPOLI, Greece -- Torri Edwards' two-year doping suspension cleared the way for 37-year-old Gail Devers to try to win her third gold medal in the 100 meters.

Of course, that means defending champion Marion Jones gets left out of the event at the Athens Games.

Just another day of drama Wednesday on the U.S. track and field team.

Edwards appealed to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport, where a binding decision should come before the track competition begins on Aug. 20. Her chances are not good.

"I really want some time to myself right now," Edwards said at the Crete resort where the team is training. As she walked away, she nodded and smiled when asked if she was taking her case to the CAS.

Edwards' suspension for taking a banned stimulant elevated Devers, a five-time Olympian, into the 100 because she finished fourth at the U.S. trials last month.

There had been speculation Devers would turn down a spot in the 100 in order to concentrate on the 100-meter hurdles, a decision that would have let Jones -- fifth at the trials -- defend her gold medal from the Sydney Games.

Devers ended that idea, telling U.S. women's coach Sue Humphrey of her decision.

"Gail has told me that she will run the 100 meters and has adjusted her travel to do that," Humphrey said.

Devers is a two-time gold medalist in the 100, but she has never won an Olympic medal in the hurdles despite holding three world titles. If she reaches the final in both events, Devers will have run six races in the first five days of the track competition.

"I think Gail Devers is a physical specimen that is kind of like a fine-tuned machine," Humphrey said. "She takes good care of her body. She knows how to read herself. If she says she can do something, then I believe she can do it because she knows her body better than anybody else."

Edwards was a medal contender in the 100 and 200. She is the reigning world champion in the 100 and finished second in that event at the trials. The two-year suspension was the minimum she faced after a review board of the International Association of Athletics Federations ruled there were no "exceptional circumstances" that warranted a lesser penalty.