Marion Jones is jailed for six months

Marion Jones, the US athlete who won five Olympic medals at the 2000 Games in Sydney, has been sentenced to six months' jail by a judge in White Plains, New York for lying to federal investigators on two counts. In October Jones finally conceded - after seven years of denials - that she has used performance-enhancing drugs. She also admitted lying about a cheque fraud involving her former partner, the disgraced sprinter and convicted drug cheat, Tim Montgomery.

The athlete's disgrace has left the Olympic officials with a huge headache about what to do with her Olympic medals - golds in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x400 metres relay and bronzes in the long jump and 4x100 metres relay. Jones has already handled her medals back but the big issue is what to do about the women who were placed below her. The most obvious solution - shuffling her opponents up a ranking - is problematic given that at least two athletes involved have also been implicated in drugs scandals.

Ekaterina Thanou, who came second to Jones in the 100 metres in 2000, faces perjury charges in her native Greece after staging a motorcycle crash in 2004 to avoid drugs tests. International Olympics Committee president Jacques Rogge has pledged that no athlete suspected of doping will have a Jones medal reallocated to them. But Thanou has sworn to sue the IOC if the gold medal is not awarded to her.

Meanwhile the sprinter placed fourth in the same race, veteran Jamaican athlete Merlene Ottey, failed a drugs test in 1999. That verdict was overturned on an appeal, but there are arguably grounds for Rogge to suspect she is not clean. However, with a record-breaking ninth Olympic medal at stake, Ottey is also likely to sue the IOC.