It's time to rewrite the Olympic record books: There was no gold medal winner in the women's 100 meters at the 2000 Sydney Games.
The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday reallocated two individual medals stripped from Marion Jones for doping, but in an unprecedented move withheld her 100-meter prize from Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou because of her "disgraceful" behavior in evading drug tests at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The decision means the first two runners across the line in Sydney have both been denied the winner's medal for doping violations, and the gold in sprinting's marquee event will remain without an owner -- believed to be a first in the 113-year history of the modern Olympics.
"The IOC feels we have a strong moral and a good legal case for that," spokesman Mark Adams said. "We are not legally bound to give medals. This is a case of taking no action. We have decided not to give [Thanou] an honor that we don't think she deserves."
While the IOC executive board awarded Jones' gold in the 200 meters and bronze in the long jump to the next place finishers, it refused Thanou the 100 gold because of her involvement in a drug scandal at the Athens Games.
"It was disgraceful behavior by her and this is a unique situation," Adams said.
Thanou never tested positive and was not linked to doping in Sydney, but was accused along with fellow Greek sprinter Kostas Kenteris of dodging drug-testers in Athens and faking a motorcycle crash as a cover-up.
While the race results and rankings are up to the International Association of Athletics Federations, the IOC controls who gets Olympic medals.
