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LAUSANNE (Switzerland) - THE International Olympic Committee ended the once stellar Olympic career of United States sprinter Marion Jones on Wednesday, taking back her five Sydney 2000 Games medals after she admitted to taking drugs.
'She is disqualified and scrapped from the results,' IOC President Jacques Rogge told reporters after an executive board meeting.
'We disqualified Marion Jones from the five events she took part in in Sydney and for one event in Athens (2004 Olympics) which is the long jump where she was fifth,' Rogge said.
He added that she was also banned from the 2008 Beijing Olympics in any capacity and said the IOC reserved the right for any further sanction.
Jones, who became the first woman to win five medals in track and field at a single Olympics after winning gold in the 100 metres, 200 and 4x400 relay and taking bronze in the long jump and 4x100 relay, could go to jail for lying to federal investigators.
She returned her medals to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) after telling the court in White Plains, New York in October she had taken the banned substance known as 'clear' from September 2000 to July 2001.
Jones accepted a two-year ban from the sport.
She also pleaded guilty to two counts of providing false statements to federal investigators and check fraud and will be sentenced in January.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the sport's world governing body, applauded the IOC's decision.
'We welcome this decision on Marion Jones' Olympic medals since it is in line with the recommendation made by the IAAF Council last month,' said IAAF spokesman Nick Davies.
The USOC said it also fully supported the IOC's action.
'This decision underscores the commitment we share to protect the integrity and fairness of sport,' said USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel.
'It also illustrates the fact that cheating carries with it some very serious consequences,' Seibel added. -- REUTERS
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