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Track officials set to strip Marion Jones' medals


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The IOC also could strip the medals won by those who ran with Jones in the Sydney relays. That would include bronze medalists Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and alternate Passion Richardson in the 400 relay; gold medalists Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Henderson, La Tasha Colander-Richardson and alternate Andrea Anderson ran in the 1,600 relay.

“If the reports are accurate and if she does in fact acknowledge steroid use at the Sydney Olympic Games then that’s a good thing,” Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates said. “But it’s still very, very disappointing for all of the athletes that competed against her. ... I don’t think an acknowledgment now will ever right the injustice for those other ladies.”

“I would hope the medals would be taken away,” he said.

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The IAAF said it was waiting for official notification from USADA setting out the details of Jones’ reported admission. The IAAF could strip Jones of all her medals and results from the world championships and other events from that time.

“Our rules are clear,” Davies said.

Jones won a gold (100 meters) and bronze (long jump) at the 1999 worlds in Seville, Spain, and two gold (200 and 400 relay) and a silver (100) at the 2001 championships in Edmonton.

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Under IAAF rules, athletes busted for doping also can be asked to pay back prize money and appearance fees. It’s unclear whether this would be applied to Jones, who would have earned millions in prizes, bonuses and fees from meets all over the world, including a share of the $1 million Golden League jackpot in 2001 and 2002.

British sprinter Dwain Chambers, who admitted using designer steroid THG, had to pay back a reported $230,615 before he was allowed to return to competition after a two-year ban.

What would happen to the U.S. relay team medals won by Jones is also uncertain.

After a long legal case, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in 2005 that only Jerome Young should be stripped of the gold medal won by the United States in the 1,600 relay in Sydney.

The IOC, IAAF and World Anti-Doping Agency had pushed for the entire team — including Michael Johnson — to be stripped of the victory. Young tested positive for steroids in 1999 but was cleared by a U.S. panel on appeal and allowed to compete in Sydney. He ran in the preliminaries but not the final.

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