Swimmer opts for Beijing trip, delays surgery for cancer

ATLANTA — When swimmer Eric Shanteau touched the wall second at the U.S. Olympic trials, he was overcome by the joy of reaching a lifelong goal.

The celebration didn't last long.

Shanteau barely had secured his trip to Beijing when he was forced to deal with a gut-wrenching choice: Should he have surgery for the testicular cancer hardly anyone knew about? Or should he put it off for another month so he could swim at his first Olympics?

Shanteau chose the Olympics. Surgery will wait.

Shanteau said he learned a week before leaving for the U.S. Olympic trials that he has cancer.

"I was sort of like, 'This isn't real. There's no way this is happening to me right now,' " he said by telephone from the team's pre-Beijing training camp in California. "You're trying to get ready for the Olympics, and you just get this huge bomb dropped on you."

His doctors cleared him to compete at the trials in Omaha, Neb., determining he wouldn't be at great risk to delay treatment. Then Shanteau somewhat surprisingly made the team in the 200-meter breaststroke, finishing second ahead of a former world-record holder and heavy favorite Brendan Hansen.

Shanteau is putting off surgery until after the Olympics because having it would keep him out of the water for at least two weeks, ruining his Beijing preparations. The 24-year-old Georgia native will be monitored closely over the next month by U.S. Olympic team doctors and vows to withdraw if there is any sign his cancer is spreading.

"If I didn't make the team, the decision would have been easy: Go home and have the surgery," said Shanteau, who grew up in suburban Atlanta. "I made the team, so I had a hard decision. But by no means am I being stupid about this."

There are no guarantees.

"With any cancer, you want to find it early and treat it early for the best outcome," said Dr. Brett Baker, the Austin, Texas-based urologist who delivered the news to Shanteau.

Seeking out advice from team doctors and other outside experts, Shanteau came up with his own plan. He will have his blood tested once a week and a CT scan done every two weeks through the Games.

"If something comes up abnormal," he said, "then that's kind of a barrier I shouldn't cross."

Isinbayeva soars to record

ROME — Just when it seemed someone might challenge Yelena Isinbayeva, the Russian responded with her first pole-vault world record in nearly three years.

Isinbayeva cleared 16 feet, 6 inches at the Golden Gala meet, surpassing her mark of 16-5 ¼ set at the 2005 world championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Jenn Stuczynski set an American record of 16-1 ¾ at the U.S. Olympic trials last weekend, pressuring Isinbayeva to respond before the Olympics.

"Everybody was saying 'Ah, OK, Isinbayeva is finished, we have a new star,' " Isinbayeva said. "So today I was really angry."

Notes

• Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius of South Africa missed out in another attempt to qualify for the Olympics, but covered 400 meters more than a second faster than he did last week.

Pistorius, who uses carbon-fiber prosthetics in races, finished in 46.62 seconds in Rome. He must run a 45.55 or faster to qualify for the Olympics.

Last week in Milan, Italy, he ran a 47.78. His lifetime best is 46.36.

• Two Paralympic track-and-field athletes from Chula Vista, Calif., have accepted suspensions for doping offenses, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said.

Royal Mitchell, 25, and Nelacey Porter, 23, tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol acid June 13 at the U.S. Paralympic trials, USADA officials said. Mitchell's and Porter's results at the trials were disqualified. Both accepted a three-month period of ineligibility.

• Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the Xinhua news agency reported.