Troy Douglas won't be back in action next weekend after all! The Royal Dutch Athletics Union (KNAU) have backed down from their decision to allow the banned sprinter to compete in next weekend's Dutch Championships, after a threat from the world governing body, IAAF, to suspend any athlete who competes against the Bermudian.

But yesterday Douglas was still confident that his case was close to being resolved and that he would be cleared in time to compete in the Sydney Olympics.

KNAU had given Douglas the go-ahead to run in the national championships, defying a ban imposed by the IAAF on Douglas after he tested positive for the banned steroid Nandrolone at the 1999 Dutch Championships.

Douglas and the Dutch Federation saw his participation as a way of forcing the IAAF to bring a conclusion to the drawn out case which is stalling Douglas' build-up to the Olympics.

"It's a disappointment but at the same time if I ran then some other guys who have chances of qualifying for the Olympics could be disqualified if they run with me,'' Douglas told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"It's scare tactics by the IAAF, but it's also a tactic from us to say `listen, we've waited for a year, you've taken your time on the case and we want to speed up the process. If this guy was guilty he wouldn't be pestering us as much as a guilty person would'.'' KNAU had waited for six weeks for clarification on whether Douglas could compete next weekend, then gave him the go-ahead on Monday when the IAAF failed to respond.

But after notifying the IAAF, the Dutch federation received a fax from them reasserting Douglas' suspension from national and international competitions and threatening to punish athletes who competed against the sprinter.

"We figured if we sent them a fax every day of the week they would get tired of us and look at this case faster,'' said Douglas.

"With the resources they have, and the budget and intelligence they have, it's about time they put it to work. Sometimes you have to do things to wake them up and now I think this will be taken care of faster.'' Douglas and his lawyer are hopeful his case could be resolved either late July or early August, thus giving him about a month to prepare for what he says will be his final Olympic Games.

"I talked to my lawyer today and deep down I really feel I'm going to win this,'' said Douglas.

"I'm a fighter and if I believe in my innocence I have to fight any way I know how. I have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

"In Holland I'm known as Troy Douglas the fighter and people respect me because I'm fighting my case. The general public is behind me because I have done everything possible to prove my innocence.'' If he is cleared to compete in the Olympics, Douglas will run in the 100 and 200 metres rather than the 400 metres which had been his main event in the past.

"The four (400) is too much work,'' he disclosed. "I've changed my whole style of running, I've gotten stronger and I'm specialising in the one and two now.

"I have 10 years of 400 metres in my background so I don't need that much endurance work anymore.'' Bermuda's Xavier James proved himself to be a fast riser when he was called on to run a 100 metres heat at 6.30 on Thursday morning at the Arizona High Altitude Series, clocking 10.49 seconds, just outside the Olympic `B' qualifying time of 10.40.

"I didn't run my best race,'' said James, battling against time to match the qualifying standard for Sydney. "I didn't win, but I was up there.'' Of some concern to James yesterday was his health as he woke up experiencing symptoms of altitude sickness in the form of a bloody nose and congested head.

Still the 24-year-old expects to be back on the track today, racing in the 100 and 200.

Troy Douglas: remains confident he will be cleared of drugs charges.