LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) – Twenty-four American athletes who won Olympic medals from 1988 to 2000 previously tested positive for banned drugs, U.S. Olympic officials said Wednesday.

They insisted, however, that the cases were handled properly without any cover-ups.

The U.S. Olympic Committee was to report the cases to the IOC on Thursday as part of a review of its drug-testing program from 1985 to 2000, spokesman Darryl Seibel said.

“The report will clearly indicate that there was no cover-up and these cases were adjudicated with the applicable rules at the time,” Seibel told The Associated Press.

Seibel said the “vast majority” of the 24 cases involved stimulants in the ephedrine class or similar substances. He declined to identify the athletes or sports involved.

Some of the positive tests occurred years before the athletes won Olympic medals, according to U.S. officials. The punishment at the time for positive ephedrine tests was a warning or three-month suspension.

Confirmation of the 24 cases, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, came on the same day the IOC said it couldn’t take action in the alleged doping case involving U.S. sprinter Jerome Young.

The International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency have been investigating accusations Young tested positive for nandrolone in 1999 but was cleared on appeal by U.S. officials. He went on to win a gold medal in Sydney as part of the 1,600-meter relay team. WADA chairman Dick Pound has pushed for the gold medals to be stripped from Young and the rest of the relay team.

“No legal action can be taken at this point by the IOC,” said IOC director general Francois Carrard, part of the four-member investigative panel. “The IOC can only contemplate legal action if the matter is reconsidered by the IAAF.”

The IAAF said it, too, was powerless to act unless Young comes forward and admits to the positive test.

IAAF anti-doping chief Arne Ljungqvist said his federation is bound by a ruling in January from the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, which said USA Track & Field did not have to divulge details of 13 positive cases from 1996-2000.

“We can not ask USATF to submit any information since this is what CAS decided,” Ljungqvist told the AP. However, he added that if the athlete comes forward, “then we would have a new situation.”

Young, who won gold in the 400 meters and 1,600-meter relay at last month’s World Championships, has said he never committed a doping offense.

The USOC said it would cooperate.

“We will provide the IOC with as much information as possible to answer their questions and bring closure to these important issues,” Seibel said.

The investigative panel was formed after the accusations against Young were reported by the Los Angeles Times. The case was never disclosed by U.S. officials.

Carrard said the panel did not speak to Young or any other outside witnesses.

The IAAF repeatedly demanded that USA Track & Field disclose the names of athletes who were cleared of doping offenses before the Sydney Olympics. USATF refused, citing confidentiality rules, and the dispute went to the arbitration court.

Carrard said the disclosure of Young’s name would allow for the ruling to be reopened.

“We think there should be some course of action following the disclosure of the name of the athlete,” Carrard said. “The IAAF should exercise its own authority to bring USA Track & Field to order so that the whole matter can be reconsidered. We think this is a matter of principle.”

The IOC asked for a full report on the American drug-testing program after the USOC’s former doping control chief contended many athletes failed tests but competed in the Olympics once the USOC cleared them on grounds of inadvertent use.

The USOC delegation will be led by acting president Bill Martin.

On another issue, the IOC said it will decide May 18 which bid cities to accept in the race for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The nine preliminary candidates are New York; Paris; London; Moscow; Madrid, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Leipzig, Germany, and Havana, Cuba.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has said the IOC could keep all nine cities rather than reduce the field to a short list. The host city will be selected in 2005.

Also Wednesday, Rogge said the committee will open bidding for TV rights to the games to all interested broadcasters for auction. The move will have particular impact in Europe, where Olympic rights have traditionally been granted in a bloc to the European Broadcasting Union, a consortium of networks.

AP-ES-09-24-03 1807EDT