ROUNDUP : IOC PRESIDENT DENOUNCES DOPING.

Byline: Associated Press 

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch warned Sunday that use of performance-enhancing drugs causes ``physical and moral death.''

In a speech at the opening ceremony of the 105th IOC session in Atlanta, Samaranch said the Olympic movement would continue to lead the fight against doping.

``Doping is the negation of sport and its role as we understand it,'' he said. ``Athletes who use banned substances to improve their performance commit a series of acts that transgress and violate certain immutable principles.

``First and foremost, they destroy their health, which is the most precious thing they possess. Doping leads to physical and moral death because of the irreversible behavioral changes that drug use entails.''

Doping could be a major issue during the Centennial Games. Atlanta's drug-testing lab is equipped with three high-resolution mass spectrometers, state-of-the-art machines that can detect the use of steroids dating back months.

There have been 51 positive tests at the Olympic Games since doping controls were introduced in 1968. At the last summer games in Barcelona in 1992, five athletes failed drug tests.

Get your T-shirts: Considering the Atlanta Games are the most commercialized in Olympic history, it's only appropriate they are being hailed as the most successful for the sale of licensed products.

The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games reported $650 million in sales already and projects the figure will rise to $1 billion by the time the games end Aug. 4.

Kenya's troubles: Kenyan officials thought Mississippi would be an ideal spot for their Olympic team to get in final workouts for the Atlanta Games.

Trouble is, about half the athletes never showed up - and their participation in the Olympics might be in jeopardy.

``You have to respect your country. You know to be there on time,'' said former Olympic gold medalist Kip Keino, vice president of Kenya's National Olympic Committee. ``If you can't do it then, no need to select you, even if you are the best.''

About two dozen members of the 47-person team, including many of the African country's best chances for a medal, bypassed the 10-day training session at the University of Southern Mississippi to participate in European Grand Prix meets. Those meets were arranged by the athletes' agents, without clearance from Kenyan officials.

Keino said Kenyan Olympic officials would have to meet in Atlanta and make final decisions on who will participate.

Among those who never arrived in Mississippi were three-time world 3,000-meter steeplechase champion Moses Kiptanui, Olympic 3,000-meter steeplechase champion Matthew Birir, Olympic 800-meter champion William Tanui and Olympic 400-meter bronze medalist Samson Kitur.

Determined:: After suffering horrific burns over most of her body last year when a flaming plane crashed into her office, Shirley Badke had to think twice before agreeing to carry the Olympic torch.

But with more than 150 friends and family wearing ``Go Shirley Go'' T-shirts and cheering her , Badke cradled the lit torch in her scarred hands and walked at a rapid clip on her leg of the torch relay in Augusta, Ga.

``At first, when I was told I was nominated, I thought, `A ball of fire in the middle of the road in July in Georgia - I'm not sure that's such a good idea,''' Badke said. ``But when I got the letter of congratulations, I just cried.''

Badke, 37, was burned over 85 percent of her body in January 1995 when a twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed into the Southland Timber Co., where she worked as a secretary. Her desk was directly in the path of the wreckage.

The four people in the plane died, and Badke initially wasn't expected to survive. In the past 18 months, she's had nearly 30 skin grafts and is unable to grip objects with her fingers.

Walker honored: LeRoy Walker, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, received the International Olympic Committee's highest honor.

Walker, whose term expires in October, was among a group of international sports leaders awarded the Olympic Order by IOC president Samaranch.

Iranian expulsions: Three athletes were kicked off the Iranian Olympic team for using steroids, a newspaper reported as the rest of the team departed for Atlanta.