The seven U.S. sprinters that had their Olympic medals stripped when Marion Jones admitted to doping have appealed to the sports world's highest court in an attempt to have the medals returned.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport heard the appeal that saw the U.S. relay team stripped of its medals from the 2000 Sydney Games. A ruling is not expected for several weeks.
Along with Jones, Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander Clark and Andrea Anderson won gold in the 4×400 relay.
Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson also won medals with Jones in the 4×100 event, winning bronze.
The ruling is expected to establish legal precedent in the matter after a ruling five years ago awarded teammates of Jerome Young their 4×400 gold medals back. Michael Johnson, Antonio Pettigrew, Angelo Taylor, Alvin Harrison and Calvin Harrison won after appealing to CAS.
Young had been served with a retroactive ban from 1999-2001, meaning he was ineligible to participate in the 2000 Games. The difference between the two cases is that Young was not part of the run that nabbed the gold medal, while Jones was.
Pettigrew later returned his medal after admitting to using banned drugs in the same time frame.
The seven women have already lost a judgment in the case from December 2009. CAS ruled that the International Olympic Committee had the right to disqualify the women despite a rule that no Olympic decision could be challenged more than three years after the closing ceremony. The IOC's decision to strip the women of the medals came seven years later.
If the ruling is upheld, the IOC will have to decide how to reallocate the medals. Jamaica took silver, Russia bronze and Nigeria finished fourth in the 4×400. France is in line to be upgraded to a bronze in the 4×100.
Jones was also stripped in 2007 of her gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters and bronze in the long jump.
