American sprinter Jerome Young was formally stripped of his relay gold medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics on Thursday for a positive doping test a year before the games. Young's agent said he plans to fight the ruling in court.
The International Olympic Committee also reinstated Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle's bronze medal from the 2004 Athens Games.
Young was a member of the winning US 1,600m relay squad in Sydney. He ran in the preliminaries but not the final. Michael Johnson ran the anchor leg for the fifth and final gold medal of his Olympic career.
It was disclosed in 2003 that Young had tested positive for steroids at the US nationals in 1999 but was cleared by a US panel on appeal and allowed to compete in Sydney.
The International Association of Athletics Federations said Young should have received a two-year ban and been ineligible for Sydney. The IAAF also said the entire US team should be disqualified. In addition to Young and Johnson, the team comprised Antonio Pettigrew, Angelo Taylor and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison.
But the Court or Arbitration for Sport ruled in July that only Young should be stripped of the medal. The IOC executive board complied with the ruling Thursday, ordering the US Olympic Committee to return Young's medal.
Young, who has been banned for life for two doping offenses, has said he doesn't plan to give the medal back.
"We are aware of the IOC's request and will transmit that request to Mr. Young and his representatives," USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said.
Young's agent, Morris Chrobotek, said he plans to file suit in the US against the IOC and various US and international governing bodies.
"I will gladly give back the medal on a gold platter after we go to court with a jury," Chrotobek said from his office in Toronto. "I welcome all of them -- USA Track & Field, the US Olympic Committee, USADA, IAAF and the IOC -- to sit in a courtroom. There is no question in our minds that all procedures were bent and twisted. Nobody knows what really happened."
Chrobotek was the former agent for Ben Johnson, the Canadian sprinter stripped of his 100m gold medal after testing positive for steroids at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
"They don't know what is coming," Chrobotek said.
The IOC also ratified last week's CAS decision to reinstate Calle as the bronze medalist from the women's point race in Athens. CAS overturned her disqualification by the IOC, saying the headache medication she took did not contain banned substances.
Calle's medal had been awarded to American cyclist Erin Mirabella, the original fourth-place finisher. Mirabella said Wednesday she is prepared to return it.
"I still feel like I need some time to absorb everything and get a better understanding of the decision," Mirabella said. "But if the IOC asks, it's only fair to give the medal back."
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