OLYMPIC GAMES:The International Olympic Committee have delayed a decision to reallocate medals won by Marion Jones at the 2000 Games because more athletes may be involved in the Balco doping affair.
The IOC executive board meeting that started yesterday is set to strip Jones of five medals, including three golds, after the US sprinter confessed in October to taking banned substances.
It will further investigate the case for fear that more Olympic athletes, who could be upgraded, may be involved in the Balco affair.
Several prominent athletes have been embroiled in the doping scandal involving the San Francisco-based Balco laboratory, the latest being baseball player Barry Bonds, who has been charged with perjury over alleged drugs use.
"We feel that some names of athletes may still appear (in the Balco case)," disciplinary commission member Denis Oswald said, adding that a decision to strip Jones of her medals would be taken this week.
"We know there were more athletes clients. We want to know more about the Balco case and be sure that other athletes who may be positively affected (by the upgrading) are not involved."
Among those standing to benefit from upgrading is Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, who won silver in 2000 but was suspended for two years in 2004 after missing a doping test on the eve of the Athens Olympics.
A Greek prosecutor recently shelved an investigation into possible links between Balco and Thanou, fellow sprinter Costas Kenteris and their former coach, Christos Tzekos, because of a lack of evidence.
