Apr 10, 2008, 13:43 GMT
Beijing - The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced that they had stripped the US 4x100m and 4x400m teams from the 2000 Sydney Olympics of their medals.
The decision was taken by the IOC executive committee during a meeting in Beijing.
US athlete Marion Jones, who admitted having doped at the time, was a member of the 4x400m relay that won gold. She also won bronze with the 4x100m relay.
The IOC said that Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan and La Tasha Colander-Richardson would have to give back their gold medals, while Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards and Nanceen Perry would have to return their bronze medals.
The IOC had already stripped Jones of her relay medals, as well as the gold she won in the 100m and 200m, and the bronze medal she won in the long jump.
She was also declared persona non grata by the IOC last year and has been scratched from Olympic History.
Jones, who is currently serving a six-month jail term for lying to a Grand Jury, has already returned her medals.
The world athletic federation IAAF has also stripped Jones of all the medals she won after October 2000 and scratched her name from all list of results.
The IOC said that not only the athletes who competed in the relay final would have to return their medals, but also those who ran in the heats.
Jones' team-mates have said they do not want to return their medals, as they should not be penalized for Jones' offence, but the IOC has now instructed the American Olympic Committee (USOC) to see to it that the medals are returned.
The IOC has not yet taken a decision if the medals that Jones won in Athens will be re-allocated. They said they could not yet reach a decision as not all the documents pertaining to the BALCO doping scandal were with them and they were worried that other athletes involved would be in line to receive a medal.
France finished fourth in the 4x100m and would get the bronze medal if the IOC pushes teams up, while Jamaica would receive the gold, Russia the silver and Nigeria the bronze in the 4x400m.
Close to three dozen athletes are affected by the decision to strip Jones of her medals.
Greek sprinter Ekaterini Thanou, who was involved in a scandal after failing to appear at a doping test at the Olympics in 2004, won the silver in Sydney and could as a result been declared the 2000 winner.
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