IAAF slaps two-year ban on Marion Jones

Sprinter Marion Jones has been slapped a two-year ban by the world governing body of athletics, IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation), for doping. She has also been stripped of her Olympic and world championship titles and all her other results have been annulled. All relay teammates of Jones ( from the 2000 Sydney Olympics) have also been disqualified and stripped of their medals. Jones has also been told to return prize money, estimated at $700,000. According to IAAF spokesperson Nick Davies, Jones can compete only after she has paid back the stated amount of prize money. Therefore, though Jones has actually retired, she remains officially suspended till 7 October 2009. She would also have to give a 12 months’ notice to the IAAF if she wanted to compete again following the ban. Jones won the 200 meter world title in 2001 and had claimed the gold medals in the 100 meter, 200 meter and the 1600 meter relay in the Sydney Olympics. She also won the bronze medals in the 400 meter relay and long jump in 2001. Jones had admitted that she had taken the designer steroid ‘the clear’ during the period September 2000 to July 2001. She retired last month after pleading guilty to federal investigators in 2003. She has returned her Olympic medals ( five), and has also agreed to forfeit all her results dating to 1 September 2000. However, IAAF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are yet to take a stand on altering the record books and revising the awarded medals. It is up to the IOC ( which has the authority over Olympic medals) to decide whether Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou would be upgraded to the 100 meter Olympic gold medal. Thanou and Kostas Kenteris (Thanou’s fellow Greek runner) had failed to show up for a drug test in 2004, stating that they had been injured in a motorcycle accident and both pulled out of the Athens Olympics, 2004. Both were later awarded two-year bans. Jacques Rogge, the president of the IOC, has stated that only ‘clean’ athletes will be moved up in medal positions. There would be no automatic upgrades, and hence, keeping the 100 meter winner’s spot vacant remains a possibility. source