CAS Partially Rules on Marion Jones Relay Medals

(ATR) The Court of Arbitration for Sport issued a "preliminarydecision" in the an appeal by the teammates of Marion Jones who lostthe medals they won in the 2000 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the SydneyOlympics.

Another hearing will still be needed to settle the case.

CAS was asked by Jones’ teammates whether the IOC had the authority to disqualify the team more than seven years after the Sydney Olympic Games.

IOC rules at the time of the Sydney Games said "no decision taken in the context of the Olympic Games can be challenged after a period of 3 years from the day of the Closing ceremony of such Games."

But a statement from CAS says the IOC appears to have the power to remove the medals, regardless of the time limit for appeals. CAS says the IOC actually makes no decisions in awarding medals at the Olympics, that it simply follows the results posted for the event.

“The CAS Panel in charge of this matter has considered that the IOC, in implementing the rankings and presenting the medals at the victory ceremonies, simply apply the data established and forwarded to it by the competent International Federations and does not issue a “decision” in this regard.”

“The CAS Panel has considered that the 3-year rule did not prevent (time-bar) the IOC from withdrawing medals which were awarded at a victory ceremony because the distribution of medals, which occurs immediately after the race, is not in itself a “decision”. If the CAS had decided that the 3-year rule was applicable in the present case, the IOC decision of 10 April 2008 would have been annulled.”

CAS will now summon the parties for a hearing to determine the merits of the sprinters’ case.

On April 10, 2009, the IOC demanded the return of their Olympic medals, after Marion Jones was stripped of her medals for a doping offense, including the gold and bronze won in the relays in Sydney.

The IOC said in a statement "[w]e acknowledge the decision of CAS and are now awaiting their final judgment on this matter."

All but one of the eight teammates of Jones joined the appeal, filed by Andrea Anderson, LaTasha Colander Clark, Jearl Miles-Clark, Torri Edwards, Chryste Gaines, Monique Hennagan, and Passion Richardson. Nanceen Perry, who ran in the 4X100m relay, did not appeal.

The IOC admits there is no suggestion that any of Jones’ teammates broke any laws or Olympic rules in the 2000 Olympic Games. Nevertheless the IOC disqualified all eightrelay athletes based on their affiliation with Ms. Jones at the 2000 Games and ordered the United States Olympic Committee to reclaim the medals. Jones voluntarily surrendered her medals in 2007 soon after she admitted that she lied about her drug use at the Sydney Olympics.

Written by Ed Hula III.