HAVANA (AP) -- High-jumper Javier Sotomayor cleared 2.3 metres during a weekend exhibition event in Cuba, determined to keep busy while awaiting final word on his appeal of the drug suspension stemming from last summer's Pan American Games in Winnipeg.

 "Physically, I feel very good. I am in good form," the Cuban said during a training session at Havana's Panamericano Stadium over the weekend. He failed in three attempts to clear 2.35 metres, finally clearing 2.3.

 "I was unable to make 2.35 for small technical errors caused by lack of competition," Sotomayor said.

 The International Amateur Athletic Federation suspended Sotomayor after he tested positive for cocaine at the Pan Am Games.

 An IAAF arbitration panel is now studying Cuba's appeal of the suspension and was expected to issue its final ruling Wednesday.

 Sotomayor was stripped of his gold medal at the Pan Am Games but has maintained his innocence. Cuban President Fidel Castro and the country's track federation, which cleared Sotomayor, claim that the urine samples were deliberately manipulated.

 If the appeal is rejected, the two-year suspension will stand, which would rule him out of the Sydney Olympics.

 The 1992 Olympic champion has been barred from competing pending the arbitration panel's ruling.

 "I have continued training because I believe that justice will arrive at any moment," Sotomayor said.