London: American runner Crystal Cox was stripped of her gold medal from the 4x400-meter relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics after admitting to doping, while the IOC put off a decision on whether to disqualify the US team.

Cox admitted in 2010 to using anabolic steroids and accepted a four-year suspension and disqualification of her results from 2001 to 2004.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board formally disqualified Cox and took away her gold medal. However, the IOC took no action against the US team victory, which still stands for now.

The Olympic body said it is up to the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations whether to disqualify the US from the gold.

In a separate case dating back 12 years, the IOC on Saturday reallocated the medals removed from the US men’s 4x400 relay team from the Sydney Games because of the admitted doping by the late Antonio Pettigrew.

Cox ran in the preliminaries of the Athens relay. Sanya Richards, Dee Dee Trotter, Monique Henderson and Monique Hennegan ran in the final.

Under current international rules, an entire relay team can be disqualified because of the doping of one member, even an alternate. But IOC spokesman Mark Adams said it wasn’t clear whether the IAAF rules were in effect at the time of the Athens Games. (PTI)