Engquist

More recently, Matthews has filed a motion to amend the suit and name Engquist and the Campesis as defendants as well.

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Favorite Gail Devers (left, with Engquist) finished fourth.

Scandinavian Summer 2008

Engquist had been widely admired as something of a heroic figure in track when she took a bronze medal in the 1999 world championships just a few months after undergoing a mastectomy and chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007

But this week Engquist made history a bit prematurely -- and not in glory on the Olympic-medal podium, but rather in sad, even tragic, fashion.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007

And when American athletes have been caught, authorities here have usually taken the same charitable view of their denials and convoluted explanations as the Russian court did with Engquist, indeed as virtually every country does with its own.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007

At least as remarkable was the fact that Engquist confessed to using steroids before the test had actually been analyzed, which means she must have been caught, at least metaphorically, with the needle practically in her arm.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007

Engquist, a Russian-born Swede, had won the 100-meter hurdles in Atlanta in 1996.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007

Back in 1993, Engquist tested positive for steroids at a track meet and was banned from competition for four years.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007

But this week, as Engquist was confessing her guilt, the suspension of a world-ranked American swimmer, Michael Picotte, was also announced.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007

Which means that Engquist made another sort of history, too.

Starr Gazing: One Strike, You're Out 2007