STUTTGART, Germany (AP):

MARION JONES is eligible to run in upcoming international meets if the sport's world governing body accepts the finding that her back-up doping test was clean.

The 'B' sample taken from the former Olympic champion did not detect the banned endurance enhancer EPO, her attorneys said yesterday.

Tested positive last year

Jones tested positive for the blood-boosting hormone on June 23, after winning the 100 metres at U.S. nationals for her first sprint title since 2002.

She faced a minimum two-year ban, pending the result of the back-up, or 'B', test, conducted at the same UCLA lab using the same sample. That sample came back negative.

"We have not received any formal notification from the lab," Inter-national Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) spokesman Nick Davies said yesterday. "Until then, we can't comment."

Only when the IAAF gets the lab notification and accepts the explanation for the 'B' sample finding will the governing body consider clearing Jones to compete, he said.

The IAAF holds the right to challenge any decision it deems flawed.

The US$3 million IAAF World Athletics Final takes place tomorrow and Sunday in Stuttgart, and it seems unlikely Jones will be ready to race then. She is not included in the official entry list.

More feasible is Jones' appearance in the September 16-17 IAAF World Cup in Athens, Greece.

"If she asks the IAAF to compete, she can do so according to our rules," Helmut Digel, a vice-president of the sport's world governing body, said yesterday.

Digel said the results of the first test should not have been revealed until the 'B' sample had been examined.

"Marion Jones has the right to be upset," said Digel, a German. "We have to consider her as a clean athlete."

Jones withdrew from a meet in Zurich, Switzerland, in August, hours before the first positive test became known. Until then, she had enjoyed a strong season, running the 100 in 10.91 seconds, her best time in five years.