IOC opens doping probe into U.S. gold medal relay

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The IOC has opened a formal investigation into a doping case that could lead to the stripping of gold medals from a U.S. women's relay team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee executive board set up a disciplinary commission Sunday into the case of Crystal Cox, who ran in the preliminaries of the winning 4x400 team in Athens.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced late last month that Cox had admitted to using anabolic steroids and accepted a four-year suspension and disqualification of her results from 2001-04.

IOC vice president Thomas Bach says a three-man panel will handle the case. Such a process has previously led the IOC to retroactively remove national relay teams.