IOC unlikely to decide on Jones' medals yet
Jailed: IOC is unlikely to decide before the Beijing Games who will get the five Sydney 2000 Olympics medals stripped from Marion Jones. Picture: AFP
Saturday, August 2, 2008
THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) is unlikely to decide before the Beijing Games who will get the five Sydney 2000 Olympics medals stripped from jailed US sprinter Marion Jones, an IOC official said.
The IOC was expected to make a decision at its Aug. 2-3 executive board meeting on the much-delayed reallocation of the medals, after the athlete admitted taking banned substances.
But an IOC official told Reuters on Friday: "A decision on this is unlikely to be taken during the board meeting here. It will most likely be taken after the Beijing Olympic Games."
Jones, who won three golds and two bronze medals in Sydney, said last year she took drugs to boost her performance. She was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to federal investigators.
Following her confession, the IOC stripped her of her medals and was expected to reallocate them during their meeting in Beijing, days before the Olympics which starts on August 8.
Jones, once seen as the most gifted female track and field athlete of her generation, was long suspected of using prohibited substances to enhance her performances.
She continuously denied allegations she had taken drugs but finally admitted late last year that she had been given such substances by her coach.
Jones won the 100 metres, 200 and 4x400 gold medals in Sydney and came third in the long jump and the 4x100 relay.
Among those standing to benefit is Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, currently locked in a bitter dispute with the IOC over her eligibility to compete at the Beijing Games.
Thanou was herself at the heart of a doping scandal at the Athens 2004 Olympics and was banned for two years for drugs rules violations after she missed a drugs test.
She was the 100 silver medallist at the Sydney Olympics and now could be awarded the gold medal. Reuters
The IOC was expected to make a decision at its Aug. 2-3 executive board meeting on the much-delayed reallocation of the medals, after the athlete admitted taking banned substances.
But an IOC official told Reuters on Friday: "A decision on this is unlikely to be taken during the board meeting here. It will most likely be taken after the Beijing Olympic Games."
Jones, who won three golds and two bronze medals in Sydney, said last year she took drugs to boost her performance. She was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to federal investigators.
Following her confession, the IOC stripped her of her medals and was expected to reallocate them during their meeting in Beijing, days before the Olympics which starts on August 8.
Jones, once seen as the most gifted female track and field athlete of her generation, was long suspected of using prohibited substances to enhance her performances.
She continuously denied allegations she had taken drugs but finally admitted late last year that she had been given such substances by her coach.
Jones won the 100 metres, 200 and 4x400 gold medals in Sydney and came third in the long jump and the 4x100 relay.
Among those standing to benefit is Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, currently locked in a bitter dispute with the IOC over her eligibility to compete at the Beijing Games.
Thanou was herself at the heart of a doping scandal at the Athens 2004 Olympics and was banned for two years for drugs rules violations after she missed a drugs test.
She was the 100 silver medallist at the Sydney Olympics and now could be awarded the gold medal. Reuters
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