Jones urged to give back Olympic medals

By Simon Evans

MIAMI (Reuters) - The head of the United States Olympic Committee has urged disgraced athlete Marion Jones to hand back her Olympic medals.

Jones pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to federal investigators about her use of steroids.

"As further recognition of her complicity in this matter, Ms Jones should immediately step forward and return the Olympic medals she won while competing in violation of the rules," USOC chairman of the board Peter Ueberroth said.

Jones won five medals at the 2000 Sydney Games -- three of them gold, including the prestigious 100 meters.

"As a result of the choices she made, Ms Jones has cheated her sport, her team mates, her competitors, her country and herself," added Ueberroth.

"She now has an opportunity to make a very different choice by returning her Olympic medals and in so doing properly acknowledge the efforts of the vast majority of athletes who choose to compete clean."

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said he hoped Jones's admission will help shed further light on the scandal surrounding the San Francisco-area laboratory BALCO in the U.S.

"This is a sad day for sport. The only good that can be drawn from today's revelations is that her decision to finally admit the truth will play, we hope, a key part in breaking the back of the BALCO affair," said Rogge.