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Source: Reuters
The IAAF will recommend the US women's 2004 Olympic 4x400 metres
relay team be stripped of its gold medal because of the doping
suspension of relay alternate Crystal Cox, federation spokesman
Nick Davies said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has begun a disciplinary
procedure involving Cox and the U.S. relay team, and the
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council
agreed the team's result should be disqualified under its 2004
rules, Davis told reporters after a council meeting in Doha.
If the IOC accepts the IAAF recommendation, Russia would become the
new Olympic champion and Jamaica would move up to the silver
medal.
Cox was suspended for four years in January by the United States
Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and all her competitive results since
2001 were disqualified because she used banned anabolic agents and
hormones between 2001 and 2004, USADA said.
She ran in the preliminary round of the 2004 Olympics with the team
of Monique Henderson, Monique Hennagan, Sanya Richards and Deedee
Trotter later winning the final.
All would lose their gold medals under IAAF rules in place at the
time.
Cox later denied using performance-enhancing drugs, saying in an
email to family and friends she was innocent but signed the
sanction because she did not have the financial resources to fight
the charges.
If the US team was stripped of the gold medal because of Cox's
suspension, it would be the fourth Olympic relay medal an American
team has lost because of doping.
The IOC stripped the 2000 Olympics US women's 4x100 bronze and
4x400 gold winners of their medals because of doping admissions by
sprinter Marion Jones. Her team mates have appealed the
decision.
The IOC also took the 2000 Sydney Games gold medals of the US men's
4x400 relay team that included Michael Johnson because of doping
violations by Jerome Young and Antonio Pettigrew.
The IAAF also decided to deny suspended former Olympic champion
sprinter Justin Gatlin's request for early reinstatement, Davies
said.
The decision means Gatlin is not be eligible to return to
competition until July 25.
He is serving a four-year suspension for a 2006 positive test for the male sex hormone testosterone.
