Twenty-four American athletes who won Olympic medals had previously tested positive for banned drugs, but the cases were handled properly without any cover-ups, the USOC said Wednesday.
The USOC will report the cases to the IOC today as part of a review of its drug-testing program from 1985 to 2000, spokesman Darryl Seibel said.
"The report will clearly indicate that there was no cover-up and these cases were adjudicated with the applicable rules at the time," Seibel said.
Seibel said the "vast majority" of the 24 cases involved stimulants in the ephedrine class or similar substances. He declined to identify the athletes or sports involved.
Some of the positive tests occurred years before the athletes won Olympic medals, according to US officials. The punishment at the time for positive ephedrine tests was a warning or three-month suspension.
Confirmation of the 24 cases, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, came on the same day the IOC said it couldn't take action in the alleged doping case involving US sprinter Jerome Young.
The International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency have been investigating accusations Young tested positive for nandrolone in 1999 but was cleared on appeal by US officials. He went on to win a gold medal in Sydney as part of the 1,600-meter relay team.
WADA chairman Dick Pound has pushed for the gold medals to be stripped from Young and the rest of the relay team.
"No legal action can be taken at this point by the IOC," said IOC director general Francois Carrard, part of the four-member investigative panel. "The IOC can only contemplate legal action if the matter is reconsidered by the IAAF."
The IAAF said it, too, was powerless to act unless Young comes forward and admits to the positive test.
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