BEIJING — The International Olympic Committee stripped the gold medal yesterday from the U.S. men's 1,600-meter relay team that competed at the 2000 Olympics in the aftermath of Antonio Pettigrew's admission that he was doping at the time.

The IOC executive board disqualified the entire team, the fourth gold and sixth overall medal stripped from that U.S. track contingent in the past eight months for doping.

Three gold and two bronze were previously removed after Marion Jones confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs.

Yesterday's decision was almost a formality after Pettigrew gave up his gold medal in June. He admitted in court in May that he used EPO and human growth hormone from 1997 to 2003.

Five of Pettigrew's teammates also lose their medals: Michael Johnson and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison ran in the final; Jerome Young and Angelo Taylor ran in the preliminaries.

It was Johnson's fifth gold medal of his stellar career. He already has said he was giving it back because he felt "cheated, betrayed and let down" by Pettigrew's testimony. Johnson still holds world records in the 200 and 400 meters.

Three of the four runners from the relay final have been tainted by drugs.

Alvin Harrison accepted a four-year ban in 2004 after admitting he used performance-enhancers. Calvin Harrison tested positive for a banned stimulant in 2003 and was suspended for two years. Young was banned for life for doping violations.

SWIMMING

PUNAHOU ATHLETE IN

The Olympics' arbitration court ruled yesterday that Hawai'i-born swimmer Christel Simms can compete in the upcoming Beijing Olympics for the Philippines.

Simms, who will be a senior at Punahou, has dual U.S. and Filipino citizenship and competed for the U.S. in an international event in 2007. She was entered for the Beijing Games by the Philippines, with the authorization of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

But swimming's international body, FINA, had barred her Olympic entry in June because she did not have a permanent residence in the Philippines for at least the past 12 months.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in the swimmer's favor, saying that FINA had previously accepted her Olympic entry from the Philippines in February and allowed her to compete for the country at the world short-course championships in March in Manchester, England

Simms has won 12 gold medals at the state high school swimming championships.

MORE SWIMMING

HARDY WITHDRAWS

Swimmer Jessica Hardy withdrew from the U.S. Olympic team yesterday, four weeks after testing positive for a banned substance at the Olympic trials.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced Hardy's decision, saying she did so "in the best interests of the team."

The 21-year-old from Long Beach, Calif., could have contested the drug test results before the American Arbitration Association and potentially filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which would have kept her first Olympic berth in doubt until the eve of the games that open Aug. 8.

"While some might have chosen to exhaust their legal options to try to force their way into the games, Jessica instead chose to put her team's interests ahead of her own," said Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of USADA.

Hardy tested positive for clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent, at the trials on July 4.

BASKETBALL

U.S. ROUTS LITHUANIA

Kobe Bryant harassed longtime nemesis Sarunas Jasikevicius into a miserable night and helped the U.S. Olympic basketball team roll to a 120-84 exhibition victory over Lithuania last night at Macau.

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, Dwight Howard had 17 and LeBron James 15 for the Americans, who raced to a big early lead, then pulled away again after Lithuania got within single digits early in the second half. Bryant finished with 13 points, nine during the big U.S. first quarter.

The Americans, who shot 64 percent, swept two games here and leave today for Shanghai, where they will play European champion Russia and Australia.

BASEBALL

CANADA BEATS U.S., 4-3

Scott Thorman had an RBI double in the 10th inning to lead Canada to a 4-3 pre-Olympic exhibition victory over the United States last night at Cary, N.C.

Thorman's two-out liner down the right-field line off Jeff Stevens scored Stubby Clapp for the Canadians, who didn't have any baserunners reach third until the eighth yet rallied to claim the first of four pre-Olympic tuneups between the teams before they head to Beijing.

Matt LaPorta and Brian Barden homered and Terry Tiffee added an RBI double for the U.S.

GYMNASTICS

WARNING ISSUED AGAIN

Tim McNeill received a warning yesterday for getting a prescribed anti-inflammatory shot without the proper clearance from anti-doping authorities, the second gymnast in a month to be punished for that violation.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said McNeill tested positive May 24 at the U.S. gymnastics championships for a glucocorticosteroid, a cortisone-like drug that is only allowed during competitions with an exemption. Olympian Morgan Hamm had a positive test for the very same anti-inflammatory that day, and also drew a warning from USADA.

The anti-inflammatory is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of prohibited substances, but it can be taken before competition if there is a medical need for it and the athlete receives an exemption. McNeill did not have the exemption when he tested positive.

As part of his punishment, McNeill's results from the second day of nationals were wiped out. He finished 10th overall, and was second on pommel horse.

RUNNING

THANOU NOT CLEARED YET

Doping-tainted sprinter Katerina Thanou is determined to run at the Beijing Olympics, saying yesterday that lingering doubts about whether the IOC will let her compete are unfair.

The 33-year-old Thanou served a two-year ban after missing a drug test before the 2004 Athens Olympics. She is now on the Greek track team for the Beijing Games after qualifying in the 100 meters.

"There is no official charge against me, so why am I being asked if I want to take part in the Olympics even though I have qualified under the rules?" Thanou said at a news conference, speaking publicly for the first time since 2004.

The 2004 doping scandal involving Thanou and fellow Greek sprinter Costas Kenteris was a major embarrassment for the organizers of the Athens Games. The two sprinters claimed they had been involved in a motorcycle accident after missing a doping test.

Thanou won the silver medal in the 100 at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

WRESTLING

DOPING APPEAL DENIED

An appeal by Greco-Roman wrestler Joe Warren to reduce his two-year doping suspension was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said yesterday that a three-person CAS panel turned down the appeal by Warren, of Colorado Springs, who was suspended after testing positive for marijuana.

Warren, 31, flunked a drug test at the Senior World Team Trials on June 10, 2007. It was his second doping offense.

Warren's two-year period of ineligibility began on July 23, 2007, the date of his acceptance of a provisional suspension. He has been disqualified from his event results at the Senior World Team Trials, including his first-place finish in the Seniors 60 kg division.

REWARDS

PHILIPPINES UPS ANTE

The Philippine government is dangling more incentives to the athlete who brings home the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal, with the pot now worth $340,000.

The stakes were raised after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo met yesterday with the 15-strong Philippines team for the Beijing Olympics.

Presidential spokesman Jesus Dureza said $102,000 has been added to the previously announced $238,000 award offered by the government and private sector for the coveted medal.