Jones returns Olympic medals, accepts ban

Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones has relinquished the five Olympic medals she won at the 2000 Games and accepted a two-year ban after admitting she used performance-enhancing drugs, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said.

The medals - three golds and two bronzes - were turned over to the US Olympic Committee (USOC) on Monday and will be returned to the IOC for awarding to the appropriate winners, USOC chief executive Jim Scherr told a teleconference.

The USOC also called on US athletes who competed in the medal-winning 4x100 and 4x400 metres relays with Jones in Sydney to return their medals because, Scherr said, they were won unfairly.

After years of denial, Jones told a US court on Friday she had taken the banned substance known as the "clear" from September 2000 through to July 2001 in violation of IAAF and USADA rules.

Jones has said the substance came from the BALCO laboratory, the centre of a doping scandal.

Jones, 31, also pleaded guilty to two counts of providing false statements to federal investigators and will be sentenced in January.

Her two-year ban began on Monday, the day she accepted the suspension, the USADA said.

She has been disqualified from all competitive events on and subsequent to September 1, 2000, and must forfeit all medals, results, points and prizes from that date, the USADA said.

In addition to Jones's five Olympic medals, Scherr said he believed the sprinter's 2001 World Championships medals - gold in the 200 metres and silver in the 100 metres - should also be forfeited.

The USOC will request the return of more than $100,000 in funds Jones had received, Scherr added.

The IAAF is also expected to seek millions of dollars in prize and appearance money from Jones, who according to court documents is broke.

The USOC said it had also sent letters of apology to 205 national Olympic committees, the people of Australia and the organisers and competitors of Sydney 2000.