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	*NEWS*

Perez among those lashing out at Bulgarian

By JAIME ARON AP Sports Writer PENRITH, Australia (AP) -- Angel Perez was leaning against a fence describing his eligibility battle to get into the Olympics. He smiled as he mentioned his supporters: his country, his sport's federation, even some top Olympic officials. Then he compared his case to Bulgaria's Petar Merkov, who is being allowed to race in the kayak finals despite hints of doping. ``I think I have more credibility than him because everybody believed in me completely,'' Perez said. ``I don't see many people believing he should be racing at these Olympics.'' Merkov won a silver medal Saturday (Friday night EDT) in the 1,000-meter solo K-1. After receiving the medal he may not get to keep, Merkov waved his arms and blew kisses. He then skipped a scheduled news conference. The Cuban-born Perez helped the United States finish sixth in its first-ever 1,000-meter K-4 finals Saturday. He was proud to be part of the first U.S. K-4 that reached the medals race. ``I think it's a huge step for the U.S.,'' he said. ``Hopefully next Olympics we'll be in front.'' Perez defected in 1993 and began representing the United States internationally in '97. He became a U.S. citizen last year, but Olympic rules require three years of citizenship. After being turned down by the International Olympic Committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Perez won a last-chance plea to the CAS by arguing he gave up his Cuban citizenship when he defected. Merkov reportedly tested positive for a banned substance during the Bulgarian national championships in late July. The president of the International Canoe Federation says he's ``absolutely convinced'' Merkov used a diuretic banned because it masks steroid use, but he can't do anything about it without proof. He's asked the IOC to help. ``It's a shame,'' Perez said. ``The IOC took away the medal from the little girl in gymnastics because she took cold medicine. This guy took the real stuff and they threw away his sample.'' Perez and Merkov will race again Sunday (Saturday night EDT). Merkov is in the 500-meter K-1 final and Perez is in the K-2 500 with Peter Newton. ``I think we have a good shot,'' Perez said. During Perez's six-month eligibility battle, Newton, Stein Jorgensen and John Mooney practiced with another paddler just to be safe. Still, they knew their best chance for the first U.S. medal since 1992 was with Perez on board. ``It would've been nice to have had the time we spent in limbo in the boat together,'' Mooney said. ``But that's racing. You can't say `what if.''' Perez competed in the '92 Olympics for Cuba, but his medal chances ended with a broken paddle. An obstacle this time was wind that caused choppy waters in several lanes. The U.S. boat got off to a slower start than its competition and never really made up any ground. The Americans, who had led early in their only heat race, were fifth after 500 meters and sixth by 750. The quad crossed the finish more than 4 seconds behind gold-winner Hungary and was 2.28 seconds behind third-place Poland. Germany won silver. ``We raced the best we could,'' Jorgensen said. ``If we had another lane, perhaps we would've been closer to a medal, but we still might not have gotten one.'' Also Saturday, Birgit Fischer became kayaking's all-time leading Olympic medal winner with nine and tied the German record for most career golds with six, and Holmann's victory made him Norway's greatest summer Olympian. ``From a technical perspective, the race wasn't really that good, but the main thing is that we won gold,'' Fischer said after winning the women's four for the second straight time and third in four Olympics. Fischer tied swimmer Kristin Otto and Reiner Klimke of equestrian for most golds by a German. She can break the tie Sunday in the women's pair. ``There won't be much celebrating tonight,'' she said. Fischer, 38, also extended her own record for the longest span between golds by a woman. Her first title came 20 years ago in Moscow in the K-1. Norway's Knut Holmann won his second straight gold in the men's solo 1,000. It was his fifth Olympic medal, topping the career total of wrestler Jon Roenningen.