IOC facing tough queries on doping, censorship

The specter of doping rose again Thursday when seven female track and field athletes from Russia — including a two-time world champion — along with two Romanian middle-distance runners were accused of cheating.

This weekend, the issue of doping-tainted Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou could be on the IOC’s agenda, with officials assessing her eligibility for Beijing.

The 100-meter runner was forced out of the 2004 Athens Olympics after she and fellow Greek athlete Kostas Kenteris missed drug tests on the eve of the opening ceremony and later claimed to have been involved in a motorcycle accident. They both later served two-year bans.

The 33-year-old Thanou has been named to the Greek team for Beijing based on her qualifying times, but the IOC has said it will review her case to determine whether she can compete.

The IOC also is reviewing whether to reallocate the medals stripped from American athlete Marion Jones after her doping admissions. Jones won five medals, including three gold, at the 2000 Olympics.

Standing to move up to the gold in the 100 is Thanou, who finished second behind Jones. The IOC is reluctant to award the medal to Thanou and could decide to leave the medal spot vacant.

Jones also won gold in the 200 meters and 4x400-meter relay, and bronze in the long jump and 4x100-meter relay. Her seven relay teammates were stripped of their medals by the IOC in April.

Also unsettled are the gold medals won by the U.S. men’s team in the 4x400-meter relay in Sydney. Team member Antonio Pettigrew admitted in court in May that he was doping at the time, meaning that he and the rest of the runners — including Michael Johnson — face losing their medals.

During the meetings, the IOC will also receive progress reports from organizers of the next three Olympics — the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, 2012 Summer Olympics in London and 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

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