In the final days of training camp with her U.S. Olympic teammates, Jessica Hardy was trying to nap between practices when she got the most dreaded of phone calls for any athlete:

She had tested positive for an illicit drug.

"My main emotion at that point was confusion," Hardy said yesterday. "I had never even heard of this drug."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Hardy professed her innocence and said she has no idea how she tested positive for Clenbuterol during the U.S. Olympic trials. She also talked hopefully about getting the ruling overturned in time to compete at the Beijing Olympics.

"I'm innocent," said Hardy, who spoke by telephone from California accompanied by her attorney, Howard Jacobs. "That's all I can say to everybody. Whether or not people choose to believe me, I'm innocent."

Hardy was tested three times during the trials in Omaha, Neb., Jacobs said. The results were negative for the samples taken on July 1, after she won the 100-meter breaststroke, and on July 6, shortly after she claimed another individual race at the Olympics by finishing second to Dara Torres in the 50 freestyle.

But Hardy's "A" and backup "B" samples both came back positive — for what her attorney said was low amounts of the drug — from a test on July 4, when she finished fourth in the 100 freestyle.

Clenbuterol is usually prescribed to those with breathing disorders, such as asthma, and also is well-known in horse racing circles as a treatment for respiratory ailments. More recently, it's been touted as a weight-loss drug.

But it's also a stimulant that increases aerobic capacity and the flow of oxygen in the bloodstream, which is why it landed on the list of banned substances for athletes.

TICKETS

SELLOUT EXPECTED

A crowd of 30,000 people, baking in the heat and waiting for up to two days, swarmed a ticketing center yesterday in Beijing as the final batch of Olympic tickets went on sale. Police shoved and kicked them and used metal barricades to prevent a stampede.

The Aug. 8 to 24 Beijing Games are the first Olympics expected to be sold out, and some fans spent the night on thin bamboo mats and newspapers for a chance to buy the 250,000 tickets that went on sale in different parts of the city.

PHILIPPINES

$220,000 FOR FIRST GOLD

The Philippine government and the private sector are offering $220,000 to any athlete who brings home the country's first Olympic gold medal, an official said yesterday.

The Philippines has not won an Olympic gold since its first games at Paris in 1924. The most recent medal was silver in boxing in Atlanta in 1996.

"This is an incentive. The first gold winner will get the money," Philippine Olympic Committee spokesman Joey Romasanta said.