IAAF to give Jones’ victory to Thanou?
Athletics’ world ruling body could be forced to pronounce
controversial Greek sprinter Ekaterini Thanou as the winner of the 2000
Olympics 100 metres final following Marion Jones’ admission to doping,
the IAAF’s chief medical officer has said.
“Legally speaking, I don’t see how the IAAF can do otherwise,” Juan
Manuel Alonso told AFP.
Disgraced USA star Jones has handed back the three gold and two
bronze medals she won at the 2000 Olympics after recently admitting to
using performance-enhancing drugs at the Sydney Games.
But now the IAAF faces a dilemma over who should be pronounced the
winner of that event, and more importantly who should be crowned the
Olympic champion.
Thanou finished second behind Jones in Sydney, but her reputation has
been sullied since the controversy which surrounded her and fellow Greek
sprinter Kostas Kenteris in the lead-up to the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Their brush with the authorities, following a claimed motorbike
accident as they avoided a doping control, led to two-year suspensions
after it was ruled they missed a total of three doping tests.
Despite any suspicions on Thanou, Alonso believes the IAAF is legally
bound to pronounce Thanou as the winner of the 100m final.
“We could be suspicious about whether Thanou was clean in 2000, but
we don’t have any proof,” he added.
Alonso affirmed however that while the result from the 2000 Games
falls under IAAF auspices, any decision on awarding medals or Olympic
titles comes down to the International Olympic Committe (IOC).
Thanou may effectively be pronounced the winner of the 2000 Olympic
Games 100 metres final, but the IOC may decide not to crown her Olympic
champion.
The IOC indicated recently it was keen to promote only “clean”
athletes, whether they had tested positive or not, and said it could
begin looking into the case in December.
“We will examine each case during our next executive commission (Dec
10-12) but our priority is to promote clean athletes,” said IOC
president Jacques Rogge on November 7.
At the 2000 Olympics Jones won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x400m, and
claimed bronze in the long jump and in the 4x100m.
Thursday, AFP |
