WARSAW, 2 June 2004 — Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery should be free to compete in the Olympic Games as long as drug allegations against them are not proven, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said.
The promoters of two big European athletics meetings said last week that US anti-doping and track and field chiefs should suspend the two American sprinters until doping allegations against them have been settled. Rogge said in a newspaper interview published yesterday that he expects the case to be cleared up before the Athens Olympics in August.
Montgomery, the 100 meters world record holder, and his partner Jones, the 2000 Olympic 100m and 200m champion, are being investigated over alleged links with the BALCO laboratory in California. The laboratory’s owner, Victor Conte, has been indicted on suspicion of developing the new steroid THG and distributing it and other drugs to athletes.
