LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP):

Olympic leaders yesterday reallocated two individual medals stripped from Marion Jones for doping, but withheld the 100-metre gold from Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou because of her "disgraceful" behaviour in evading drug tests.

Nine years later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to redistribute some of the medals taken away from Jones for doping at the 2000 Sydney Games.

While the IOC executive board awarded Jones' gold in the 200 metres and bronze in the long jump to the next place finishers, it denied Thanou the 100m gold for "moral" reasons because she was at the centre of her own drug scandal at the 2004 Athens Games.

"It was disgraceful behaviour by her and this is a unique situation," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

Thanou never tested positive and was not linked to doping in Sydney, but was accused along with fellow Greek sprinter Kostas Kenteris of dodging drug-testers in Athens and faking a motorcycle crash as a cover-up.

Strong moral

The decision means the gold medal in sprinting's marquee event will remain without an owner.

"The IOC feels we have a strong moral and a good legal case for that," Adams said.

While the race results and rankings are up to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the IOC controls the Olympic medals.

"The actual awarding of a gold medal is not a right," Adams said. "Therefore, in this case it will not happen. It's felt that by her conduct she didn't deserve to be honoured with this recognition."

Adams said it's believed to be the first time the IOC has decided not to award a gold medal.

"We have a sound legal basis," he said. "We are not legally bound to give medals. This is a case of taking no action. We have decided not to give her an honour that we don't think she deserves."

Thanou's lawyers have indicated they could sue or appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if she isn't awarded the gold.

Thanou and Kenteris missed drug tests on the eve of the Athens opening ceremony, saying they were injured in a motorcycle accident and spent several days in a hospital. They pulled out of the Games and were later banned for two years by the IAAF.

Thanou and Kenteris - the men's 200-metre winner in Sydney - are still awaiting trial in Greece on misdemeanour charges of staging the crash.

"You must remember the circumstances surrounding Thanou in 2004," Adams said.

"She disgraced herself and the Olympic movement by avoiding three doping tests and, according to Greek authorities, she faked a motorcycle accident ... and she admitted anti-doping rules violations when she accepted a two-year ban from the IAAF."

The IOC barred Thanou from last year's Beijing Games, saying she caused a "scandalous saga" in Athens that brought the Olympics into disrepute.

Tayna Lawrence of Jamaica, who finished third in the 100 in Sydney, will now move up to second and become the duplicate silver medallist with Thanou.

Promoted

Merlene Ottey, who competed for Jamaica, but is now a Slovenian citizen, goes from fourth to third and will get her sixth career bronze medal to go with two silvers in seven Olympics.

Pauline Davis-Thompson of The Bahamas is promoted from silver to gold in the 200, with Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasinghe moving up from bronze to silver and Jamaica's Beverly McDonald from fourth to third.

Russia's Tatyana Kotova is upgraded from fourth to bronze in the long jump.

Jones, who had long denied doping, admitted in 2007 that she used steroids at the time of the Sydney Games - where she became the first woman to win five medals at a single Olympics.

She served a six-month prison sentence last year for lying about doping and her role in a check-fraud scam.

The IOC stripped Jones of her five medals, which also included gold in the 4x400 relay and bronze in the 4x100 relay, in December 2007, but put off any decision on redistributing the medals.

Still undecided is the fate of the medals held by Jones' relay teammates.

The IOC stripped those medals in April 2008, but the other relay runners appealed to CAS, arguing it was wrong to punish them for Jones' violations.

CAS is due to release its verdict by December 18 and the IOC will wait until then before making a decision.