Jones

BEIJING (AP):

THE IOC stripped the medals yesterday from Marion Jones' US relay teammates at the 2000 Olympics because of her doping history.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board disqualified the athletes who won gold in the 1,600-metre relay and bronze in the 400-metre relay in Sydney.

Jamaica took silver behind the US in the 1,600 relay and will move up to gold if the standings are adjusted. Russia were third and Nigeria fourth. In the 400 relay, France were fourth behind the Americans.

It's an order

IOC legal adviser Francois Carrard, who assisted the disciplinary panel investigating the case, told The Associated Press that the US Olympic Committee (USOC) has been ordered to return the medals.

The decision 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 100m, 200 and 1,600 relay, and bronze in the long jump and 400 relay.

Jones' teammates on the 1,600 squad were Jearl-Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson. The 400-relay squad had Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson.

Wrongful punishment

The runners had previously refused to give up their medals, saying it would be wrong to punish them for Jones' violations. They have hired a US lawyer to defend their case, which could wind up in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The IOC had put off any decision on reallocating the medals, pending more information from the ongoing BALCO steroid investigation in the U.S.

A reshuffling of the medals could affect the medal results of more than three dozen other athletes. The IOC wants to know whether any other Sydney athletes are implicated in the BALCO files.