IOC Looks Into Conte’s Claims Against Jones

The International Olympic Committee opened an investigation Tuesday into doping allegations against Marion Jones, who could eventually be stripped of her five medals from the 2000 Olympics.

IOC President Jacques Rogge set up a disciplinary commission in London to look into the claims made by Victor Conte, head of the Bay Area lab accused of illegally distributing steroids.

Conte told ABC’s “20/20” in a broadcast aired Friday that he gave Jones performance- enhancing drugs before and after the Sydney Olympics. He said he watched Jones inject herself with human growth hormone.

“The allegations made by Mr. Conte are extremely serious, and the IOC is fully committed to bringing to light any elements that will help the truth prevail,” the IOC said in a statement.

Jones won three gold medals (100 and 200 meters, and 1,600 relay) and two bronze (long jump and 400 relay) in Sydney. She repeatedly has denied using banned drugs, and has threatened to sue Conte for defamation.

Under the IOC charter, Olympic decisions can be challenged within three years of the Games’ closing ceremony. The Sydney Olympics ended more than four years ago, on Oct. 1, 2000.

But Thomas Bach, the German lawyer and IOC member who heads the three-member investigative panel, said the three-year rule shouldn’t apply in this case.

The U.S. Olympic Committee supported the IOC action. “There is no room in Olympic sports for the use of banned and illegal substances,” USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. “If an investigation by the IOC will bring an end to speculation or allegations involving any athlete, that will be helpful.”

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The top arbitration panel for international sports will hold hearings in June and July on doping allegations against U.S. track athletes Tim Montgomery and Chryste Gaines.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, was scheduled to hold hearings last month. They were postponed at the request of all parties.

The two athletes, along with U.S. runners Alvin Harrison and Michelle Collins, were accused of using banned steroids by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. The agency is seeking lifetime bans of the four runners, even though none has failed a drug test and they all deny using banned substances.

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Olympic champion weightlifter Galabin Boevski’s eight-year doping suspension was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Bulgarian, who won gold at Sydney in 2000, was banned this year for tampering with doping samples.

Jurisprudence

Miami Dolphin receiver David Boston pleaded not guilty in Vermont to simple assault of a ticket agent at Burlington International Airport in October. Boston, out for the season because of a knee injury, reportedly is appealing a four-game suspension by the NFL after testing positive for steroids.

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Former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga was found not guilty of rape by a judge after a closed-door trial in Managua, Nicaragua. A woman accused Mayorga of raping her at a Managua hotel in September. He acknowledged having sex but said it was consensual.

Miscellany

Colombian boxer Carlos Meza, 26, was declared brain dead, four days after failing to regain consciousness when he was knocked out in the 12th round of a bantamweight fight against Ricardo Cordoba in Colon, Panama.

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Major League Soccer’s two expansion teams, Real Salt Lake and Club Deportivo Chivas USA, will join the Western Conference for the 2005 season.

The Kansas City Wizards will move to the Eastern Conference to establish two divisions of six teams each.

Along with the expansion teams in the West will be the Galaxy, the Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas and the San Jose Earthquakes.

The East will feature the Wizards and the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, the MetroStars, the New England Revolution and champion D.C. United.

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Zina Garrison was given a one-year contract to stay on as U.S. Fed Cup captain, while Billie Jean King retired as a coach.

King, 64, led the U.S. to four Fed Cup titles in her nine years as captain, and she won seven titles as a player, finishing 52-4.

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The Long Beach Ice Dogs were close to signing NHL veteran Bill Lindsay. The left winger has played 777 NHL games, most of them with the Florida Panthers.

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Michelle Wie accepted a sponsor’s invitation to play in the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in January at Honolulu. Wie, 15, missed the cut by one shot at last year’s tournament.