TORONTO -- Allegations U.S. sprinter Jerome Young competed in the 2000 Olympics despite a positive drug test a year earlier will be investigated by a panel made up of four members from the World Anti-Doping Agency and IOC.

The case could result in the loss of a U.S. Olympic relay gold medal from the Sydney Games.

"I believe this inquiry will help bring transparency to this matter, which has cast doubt on the U.S. relay victory in Sydney," said Dick Pound, president of the anti-doping agency and a member of the International Olympic Committee. "I am pleased that WADA and the IOC will work together and use our combined resources to shed light on this case."

Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported Young tested positive for steroids in 1999 but was cleared on appeal by U.S. track officials and allowed to compete in Sydney. He won gold as a member of the relay team.

Young has said he never committed a doping offense.

Last week, IOC president Jacques Rogge sent a letter to the U.S. Olympic Committee and track's world governing body "strongly urging" them to investigate.

The letter was sent a day after Young won his second gold medal at the World Championships, anchoring the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team to victory in the final race of the meet in France. He earlier won the individual 400-meter title.

The International Association of Athletics Federations, track's governing body, has said it couldn't take action without a "clear and verifiable" admission from the athlete involved.

USATF had refused to provide information on the 1999 case to the IAAF, citing confidentiality rules.

Young ran the first leg in the opening round and semifinal heats of the relay in Sydney but didn't run in the final. The U.S. team, anchored by Michael Johnson, finished ahead of the Jamaicans and Russians.

The IOC's vice president Thomas Bach and medical director Patrick Schamasch, along with the anti-doping agency's director general David Howman and director of legal and finance Olivier Niggli will be on the panel looking into the matter.