Lay down with dopers and you'll be punished. That was the message the International Olympic Committee sent down today when they disqualified the eight athletes who shared Olympic relay medals with Marion Jones at the 2000 Olympics. The runners have been ordered, via the U.S. Olympic Committee, to return their medals. You have to feel awful for the eight women who didn't cheat yet get punished for it anyway. Cheaters should be punished and if Jones was cheating, then so was the whole team which is tough but fair. The circumstances surrounding Jones and the Sydney Games aren't exactly cut and dry. She never tested positive at the Olympics and the IOC only acted once Jones admitted she was a BALCO girl.
I also don't think the medals should be given to the next teams in line. Treat it the way the NCAA does when they vacate a team's place in a Final Four. Michigan's Fab Five made the Final Four in 1993 but were later stripped of their laurels because of a variety of infractions. That doesn't mean Temple made it just as it doesn't mean that Jamaica won the gold medal in the 4X400 relay in 2000. I know they didn't because I saw the United States win the race. Strip them, leave the medals unwon and make sure it doesn't happen again.
