Petranoff Still May Be Allowed to Compete

South Africa’s Olympic body backtracked on Thursday, saying that javelin thrower Tom Petranoff could still be considered as a competitor at Barcelona, but a dispute among track and field officials was blocking a decision.

The National Olympic Committee of South Africa issued a statement saying it could not rule on whether to include the U.S.-born former world record-holder, the center of controversy since his participation in a 1989 rebel tour of South Africa in defiance of a boycott over apartheid.

Petranoff, ranked fourth in the world, is now a naturalized South African.

The Olympic committee asked Athletics South Africa, the sport’s ruling body in the country, to make a decision. That was a marked shift by the committee, which categorically stated Wednesday that Petranoff was not on the team.

A committee official declined to give reasons for the shift. But sources close to the committee suggested it resented being forced to take a decision that would be unpopular whichever way it went.