SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Tim Montgomery, the world's fastest man but also a suspected steroid user who faces a lifetime ban, barely reached the 100-meter final at the U.S. Olympic trials Sunday.
Even if Montgomery qualifies for the Olympics, he may be removed from the U.S. squad before the Athens Games if an international arbitrator finds him guilty of doping. He has been charged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency with drug use.
Running in a semifinal heat won by reigning Olympic champion Maurice Greene, Montgomery came from far behind to claim fourth place by nine thousandths of a second. The top four from each semifinal reached the final later Sunday.
After crossing the finish line, Montgomery waited for the times to flash on a giant scoreboard. He smiled when his fourth-place finish appeared on the scoreboard, then exchanged a high-five and a hug with John Capel, who was second in the heat.
Greene won the heat in 10.05 seconds. Montgomery's time was 10.221, while Mickey Grimes was fifth in 10.230.
In the other semifinal, Shawn Crawford won in 9.93 and Justin Gatlin was second in 9.96.
Montgomery's time was slowest of the eight men who qualified for the final. If he fails to place among the top three in the final, it would save the U.S. Olympic Committee the huge headache of having to possibly remove him from the team later.
His case now is before the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport. No date has yet been set for a hearing.
Montgomery is one of four sprinters charged by USADA with steroid use. Another member of that group, Chryste Gaines, failed to qualify in the women's 100. Alvin Harrison, another of those four, was to run later Sunday in the men's 400.
Montgomery's girlfriend, three-time Olympic champion Marion Jones, failed to qualify Saturday in the 100 but still will try to make the U.S. team for Athens in the 200 and the long jump. She is under investigation by USADA, but has not been charged.
Montgomery has denied using performance-enhancing drugs. But the San Francisco Chronicle reported last month that Montgomery told a grand jury that he used human growth hormone and a then-undetectable steroid later classified as THG.
Montgomery, Jones and dozens of other athletes testified before the grand jury that ultimately indicted four men connected with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. The four men, including Barry Bonds' personal trainer, have pleaded innocent to distributing steroids to top athletes.
In other events Sunday, Tiombe Hurd broke the U.S. record in the women's triple jump with a winning leap of 47 feet, 5 inches. The old record of 47-3 1/2 was set by Shelia Hudson in 1996.
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