/ 8 December 2004

IOC kicks off Marion Jones doping probe

The Balco scandal could cost Marion Jones her five medals from the Sydney Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) opened an investigation on Tuesday into the doping allegations against the American track and field superstar.

IOC president Jacques Rogge set up a disciplinary commission to look into the claims made by Victor Conte, head of the California-based lab accused of illegally distributing steroids.

”The allegations made by Mr Conte are extremely serious, and the IOC is fully committed to bringing to light any elements that will help the truth prevail,” the IOC said in a statement.

Conte told ABC’s 20/20 in a broadcast aired on Friday in the United States that he gave Jones performance-enhancing drugs before and after the Sydney Olympics. He said he watched as she injected herself with human growth hormone.

Jones won three gold medals (100m, 200m and 1 600m relay) and two bronze (long jump and 400m relay) in Sydney. She repeatedly has denied ever using banned drugs, and has threatened to sue Conte for defamation.

World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound, a senior IOC member, has said Jones should be stripped of her medals if Conte is telling the truth.

Rogge advocates a ”zero tolerance” policy on doping.

”I hope the truth will emerge,” he said last week. ”We want the truth. We want to know what happened and the more we know, the better.”

Any decision on the medals will be taken by the IOC executive board.

Under the IOC charter, Olympic decisions can be challenged within three years of the Games’ closing ceremony. The Sydney Olympics ended more than four years ago, on October 1 2000.

But Thomas Bach, the German lawyer and IOC member who heads the three-member investigative panel, said the three-year rule shouldn’t apply in this case.

”I don’t think it plays a role,” he said in a telephone interview.

Pound said there was no actual decision taken in Sydney and the allegations are only coming out now.

Jones, who did not win any medals at the Athens Olympics, has been under investigation for months by the US Anti-Doping Agency, but has not been charged. The agency has said it will take Conte’s allegations into account.

Conte, head of the Balco lab, said he worked with Jones from August 2000 to September 2001. He said he designed a doping regimen for her that included the previously undetectable steroid THG, the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO, human growth hormone and insulin.

Bach said his first move will be to request a transcript of the ABC programme.

”First of all, we have to check carefully whether the allegations concern the time of the Olympics, and then we have to determine who is concerned,” he said.

Bach said the investigation could cover athletes other than Jones mentioned in the programme. The panel will ask for athletes’ statements and could ask them to appear at a hearing, although ”we are not in a position to force anybody to appear”, he said.

Bach said there is no timeframe for the investigation. He said he doesn’t expect to finish the probe before the next IOC board meeting, which takes place on February 10 and 11 in Turin, Italy.

Under Rogge, who succeeded Juan Antonio Samaranch in 2001, the IOC has taken a much tougher line on doping. The IOC sanctioned a record 24 athletes for doping offences during the Athens Olympics in August.

The IOC has also been investigating the 1999 doping case involving American sprinter Jerome Young. He tested positive for a steroid in 1999 but was cleared by a US appeals panel and won a gold medal in Sydney as part of the 1 600m relay team.

The IOC could strip the entire team — including five-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson — of the gold medals. The IOC is waiting for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to rule on an appeal by the US Olympic Committee. — Sapa-AP