IOC to investigate Montgomery

(GETTY)

The International Olympic Committee is ready to "take the necessary actions" after the disgraced American sprinter Tim Montgomery admitted taking drugs before the Sydney Games, where he won a relay gold medal.

Montgomery said in a US television interview that he took testosterone and human growth hormone before the Sydney Olympics and does not deserve his gold in the 4x100 relay. Montgomery ran in the preliminaries but not the final.

"The IOC will look into the matter as part of its open file on the BALCO [Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative] case and take the necessary actions," the IOC's spokeswoman, Emmanuelle Moreau, said yesterday. "Back in 2004, the IOC set up a disciplinary commission with a view to how the case might have affected Olympic Games' competitions." Moreau also said the IOC supports the US Olympic Committee's call for Montgomery to return his medal voluntarily.

Montgomery's admission was made during an interview scheduled to air tonight on HBO television. "I have a gold medal that I'm sitting on that I didn't get with my own ability," Montgomery said. "I'm not here to take away from anybody else's accomplishments, only my own. And I must say, I apologise to the other people that was on the relay team if that was to happen."

Montgomery never tested positive for drugs, but he was banned for two years and his world record in the 100 metres was erased after he was linked to the BALCO doping investigation. He retired after the ban was imposed in 2005 and is presently in prison for cheque fraud and heroin trafficking.