December 10, 2007	Monday	Ziqa'ad 29, 1428

ATHENS, Dec 9: The International Olympic Committee is expected to strip disgraced US sprinter Marion Jones of her medals this week and bar her from future Games.

However, the far trickier task of reallocating her medals may not take place during the Dec 10-12 IOC executive board meeting.

“The reallocation itself may not be decided during this meeting,” said an IOC official.

Jones, who two months ago admitted to using banned substances before the Sydney 2000 Olympics where she won five medals, including three golds, has already returned the medals and her results were recently annulled by the International Association of Athletics Federations.She now faces a prison sentence for lying to federal agents.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has said that only clean athletes will get the medals stripped from Jones and that will not be so easy.

Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou won silver in the 100 metres in Sydney but was at the centre of a drugs scandal in Athens four years later.

Many IOC members have publicly objected to Thanou, who was suspended for two years following the missed test on the eve of the Athens Olympics, getting the Sydney gold.

The US 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams could also stand to lose their medals due to Jones but some team members have said they do not intend to give the medals back.—Reuters