Order of finish moves up after Jones case: Rogge

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Athletes who finished behind disgraced sprinter Marion Jones, who returned the five Olympic medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Games after admitting steroid use, will move up in order, says IOC chief Jacques Rogge.

"We move them up," International Olympic Committee president Rogge told reporters on Thursday during a round-table forum at a New York hotel.

Rogge said top finishers down to five places are automatically tested by the IOC, along with three random finishers, and their results are stored for eight years so they would be cleared to be awarded medals.

"Marion Jones has already sent back the medals. She has to be formally disqualified by the international track and field federation and we will then endorse that and she will be stripped of her title as Olympic champion."

Jones, the first woman ever to claim five medals at a single Olympics, won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x400 meter relay in Sydney. She took bronze medals in the long jump and 4x100 meter relay.

"If there is no other difficulty, there is an automatic replacement of the disqualified athlete," Rogge said.

Rogge said December's IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne would consider whether Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou would be awarded Sydney gold after finishing second to Jones in the 100 meters.

Thanou was herself banned for two years after she failed to appear for a drugs test at the 2004 Athens Olympics.