IAAF to decide fate of Jones's Olympic titles

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Monte Carlo (Monaco) Nov 23: The fate of the Olympic titles won by disgraced American sprinter Marion Jones at the Sydney Games in 2000 will be decided by the sport's world governing body tomorrow.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council is expected to ratify her disqualification from the five events in which she won medals after she admitted in October to using performance-enhancing drugs.

Their decision will then pave the way for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to redistribute medals at its Executive Board meeting next month.

Jones won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x400 relay in Sydney along with bronze medals in the long jump and 4x100 relay, becoming the first woman to win five medals at a single Olympics.

Jones returned her medals to the IOC after telling a US court she had taken the banned substance known as ''clear'' from September 2000 to July 2001. She accepted a two-year ban from the sport.

She also pleaded guilty to two counts of providing false statements to federal investigators and will be sentenced in January.

Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, the silver medallist in the 100 behind Jones, was also banned for two years after failing to appear at three dope tests, the last on the eve of the 2004 Games in Athens.

Reuters>