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IOC strips medals from Jones' teammates
By Stephen Wade, AP Sports Writer | April 10, 2008
BEIJING --Marion Jones gave up her Olympic medals. Her relay teammates aren't quite as willing.
Jones' former relay teammates paid for her doping offenses Thursday, losing their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics as the International Olympic Committee stripped them from athletes who won gold with Jones in the 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the 400 relay.
"The decision was based on the fact that they were part of a team, that Marion Jones was disqualified from the Sydney Games due to her own admission that she was doping during those games," said IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies, who announced the decision. "She was part of a team and she competed with them in the finals."
Jones' teammates on the 1,600 squad were Jearl-Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson. The 400-relay squad also had Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson.
The runners have previously refused to give up their medals, saying it would be wrong to punish them for Jones' violations. They have hired a U.S. lawyer to defend their case, which could wind up in the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The IOC ruling follows the admission by Jones last year that she was doping at the time of the Sydney Games.
She returned her five medals last year and the IOC formally stripped her of the results in December. Jones won gold in the 100 meters, 200 and 1,600 relay, and bronze in the long jump and 400 relay.
"The (IOC) decision ... illustrates just how far-reaching the consequences of doping can be," USOC chief executive officer Jim Scherr said in a statement. "When an athlete makes the choice to cheat, others end up paying the price, including teammates, competitors and fans.
"We respect the decision of the IOC executive board, as well as the right for the athletes who are impacted by this decision to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration of Sport, should they so choose."
The IOC put off any decision Thursday on reallocating the medals, pending more information from the ongoing BALCO steroid investigation in the United States.
A reshuffling of the medals could affect more than three dozen other athletes. The IOC wants to know whether any other Sydney athletes are implicated in the BALCO files.
Davies said the Jones' relay case differed from that of U.S. 400-meter runner Jerome Young, who was stripped of his gold medal in the 1,600-meter relay from Sydney because of a doping violation dating to 1999. He ran only in the preliminary of the relay.
The IOC had sought to strip the entire American men's team but the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in 2005 that there were no rules in place at the time of the Sydney Games for a whole relay team to be disqualified for an offense by one member.
"Marion Jones ran in the finals and she was of her own admission doped during the Olympic Games," Davies said. "Jerome Young was found to be doped before the Olympic Games and should never have competed in the first place."
The next IOC board meeting takes place in Athens, Greece, in June, followed by another meeting in Beijing on the eve of the Aug. 8-24 Olympics.
Davies said there was no timetable for a decision on redistributing medals, but noted there was an eight-year statute of limitations. The Sydney Games finished on Oct. 1, 2000.
After denying she had ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted in federal court in October that she used the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. She began serving a six-month prison sentence last month for lying to investigators about doping and her role in a check fraud scam.
On other doping matters, the IOC board adopted its anti-doping rules for the Beijing Games, covering the period from the opening of the Olympic village on July 27 to the closing ceremony on Aug. 24.
Among new provisions, athletes will be considered guilty of a doping violation if they are found in possession of any prohibited substance, including marijuana. Missing two doping tests during the games or one during that period and two in the previous 18 months will constitute a violation. And athletes can be subjected to no-advance notice drug tests "at any time or place" during the games.
By Stephen Wade, AP Sports Writer | April 10, 2008
BEIJING --Marion Jones gave up her Olympic medals. Her relay teammates aren't quite as willing.
Jones' former relay teammates paid for her doping offenses Thursday, losing their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics as the International Olympic Committee stripped them from athletes who won gold with Jones in the 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the 400 relay.
"The decision was based on the fact that they were part of a team, that Marion Jones was disqualified from the Sydney Games due to her own admission that she was doping during those games," said IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies, who announced the decision. "She was part of a team and she competed with them in the finals."
Jones' teammates on the 1,600 squad were Jearl-Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson. The 400-relay squad also had Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson.
The runners have previously refused to give up their medals, saying it would be wrong to punish them for Jones' violations. They have hired a U.S. lawyer to defend their case, which could wind up in the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The IOC ruling follows the admission by Jones last year that she was doping at the time of the Sydney Games.
She returned her five medals last year and the IOC formally stripped her of the results in December. Jones won gold in the 100 meters, 200 and 1,600 relay, and bronze in the long jump and 400 relay.
"The (IOC) decision ... illustrates just how far-reaching the consequences of doping can be," USOC chief executive officer Jim Scherr said in a statement. "When an athlete makes the choice to cheat, others end up paying the price, including teammates, competitors and fans.
"We respect the decision of the IOC executive board, as well as the right for the athletes who are impacted by this decision to file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration of Sport, should they so choose."
The IOC put off any decision Thursday on reallocating the medals, pending more information from the ongoing BALCO steroid investigation in the United States.
A reshuffling of the medals could affect more than three dozen other athletes. The IOC wants to know whether any other Sydney athletes are implicated in the BALCO files.
Davies said the Jones' relay case differed from that of U.S. 400-meter runner Jerome Young, who was stripped of his gold medal in the 1,600-meter relay from Sydney because of a doping violation dating to 1999. He ran only in the preliminary of the relay.
The IOC had sought to strip the entire American men's team but the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in 2005 that there were no rules in place at the time of the Sydney Games for a whole relay team to be disqualified for an offense by one member.
"Marion Jones ran in the finals and she was of her own admission doped during the Olympic Games," Davies said. "Jerome Young was found to be doped before the Olympic Games and should never have competed in the first place."
The next IOC board meeting takes place in Athens, Greece, in June, followed by another meeting in Beijing on the eve of the Aug. 8-24 Olympics.
Davies said there was no timetable for a decision on redistributing medals, but noted there was an eight-year statute of limitations. The Sydney Games finished on Oct. 1, 2000.
After denying she had ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted in federal court in October that she used the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. She began serving a six-month prison sentence last month for lying to investigators about doping and her role in a check fraud scam.
On other doping matters, the IOC board adopted its anti-doping rules for the Beijing Games, covering the period from the opening of the Olympic village on July 27 to the closing ceremony on Aug. 24.
Among new provisions, athletes will be considered guilty of a doping violation if they are found in possession of any prohibited substance, including marijuana. Missing two doping tests during the games or one during that period and two in the previous 18 months will constitute a violation. And athletes can be subjected to no-advance notice drug tests "at any time or place" during the games.
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