IOC strips Jones of five Sydney medals

LAUSANNA: The International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge announced here on Wednesday that Marion Jones, who admitted doping last month, had been stripped of her five Sydney Games medals.
    
"We've disqualified Miss Jones from the 2000 Olympic Games and declared her ineligible from Beijing (2008 hosts)," Rogge confirmed.
    
He added that the IOC would redistribute the disgraced sprinter's medals at a later date.
    
The IOC's move follows the two-year ban imposed on the 31-year-old American by athletic's world ruling body the IAAF in November.
    
Jones was the track and field star of the 2000 Olympic  Games in Sydney, winning gold in the 100m and 200m, and 4x400m relay. She also picked up two bronzes in the long jump and 4x100m relay.
    
But her achievements have been scrubbed from the record books after her admission that she was using the prohibited substance known as "the clear" beginning on September 1, 2000.
    
Jones had pre-empted Wednesday's decision by the IOC by handing back her five Olympic medals last month after she told a US court of her use of performance-enhancing drugs.