Marion Jones’s medals only to ‘clean’ athletes
LONDON (AP) – Only «clean» athletes will be upgraded to get the Olympic medals relinquished by Marion Jones after her confession of doping, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said yesterday. Rogge’s statement means that Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou – at the center of her own drug scandal on the eve of the 2004 Athens Games – may not receive the 100-meter gold medal that Jones won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. «This is not going to be an automatic upgrade… Every potential upgraded athlete will be scrutinized on his or her merits,» Rogge said in a conference call. «We want to upgrade athletes if we are absolutely sure that they are clean. Every case will be examined.» The IOC stores Olympic drug samples for eight years. Rogge said the IOC always carries out doping tests on the fourth- and fifth-place finishers, as well as on the three medal winners and three others at random.
