DRUG SMUGGLER INVITED TO GO ON THE RUN WITH OLYMPIC TORCH

For a sports-mad country that is proud to be hosting the Olympics in
September, there was meant to be a rigorous process to decide who
would be the honoured 10,000 Australians to carry the flame on the
100-day torch relay across the continent.

But one of Australia's most infamous drug-runners, who is serving a
12-year sentence in maximum security for conspiracy to import drugs,
was invited to join the flame carriers in a letter sent to his cell.

Warren Richards, a former judo champion, accepted the offer to take
the torch on part of its run from Ayers Rock to Sydney in early 1998.
He even paid pounds 150 for a replica of the torch he wanted to carry.

There were red faces yesterday after it emerged that Richards was one
of the Australian Olympic Committee's (AOC) approved nominations, as a
reward for participating in the 1976 Montreal Games.

The AOC secretary general, Craig McClatchey, admitted: "It would be
inappropriate for us to endorse him to carry the torch, even though he
is an Olympian."

He said the invitation had now been withdrawn, but the mistake was
understandable even though Richard's conviction had attracted
considerable publicity at the time.

"We don't hold detailed personal files on each Olympian. There are
literally thousands of them - so it is possible for this situation to
arise," Mr McClatchey said.

A prison spokesman said Richards would not have been allowed a
temporary release to carry the torch. "He is doing a 12-year sentence,
his earliest release date is 2006. He has been in jail since 1998 and
is a maximum security prisoner. There is no way he will participate,"
the spokesman said.

The gaffe follows an earlier decision to allow Olympians who had
tested positive for sports drugs to carry the flame on its journey
through 1,000 Australian communities.