LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- U.S. Olympic officials say the cases of 24 athletes who won Olympic medals after failing drug tests dating to the 1980s were handled properly without any cover-ups.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said it would report the cases Thursday to the IOC executive board as part of a review of its drug-testing program from 1985-00.

The report is intended to address long-standing international suspicions that U.S. athletes were let off for drug offenses without valid reasons.

"The report will clearly indicate that there was no cover-up and these cases were adjudicated with the applicable rules at the time," USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said.

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.

Ephedrine is a stimulant contained in cold remedies. One form of the substance, pseudoephedrine, was removed this week from the banned drug list by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The IOC asked for a full report on the American testing program after the USOC's former drug control chief, Dr. Wade Exum, contended earlier this year that many athletes failed tests but competed in the Olympics once the USOC cleared them on grounds of inadvertent use.

IOC president Jacques Rogge, citing a lingering "question mark" over the credibility of U.S. athletes, urged the USOC to provide full disclosure of the cases and explain why athletes were exonerated of drug offenses.

Since 2000, drug testing in the United States has been run by an independent body, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

The USOC delegation will be led by acting president Bill Martin. The report was compiled by drug expert Rich Young, who went through 700,000 pages of documents, Seibel said.

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 drug case involving U.S. sprinter Jerome Young.

The IOC 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.

"We would like to do something but our hands are tied," IAAF anti-doping chief Arne Ljungqvist said.

Ljungqvist, who is also head of the IOC medical commission, said the IAAF is bound by a ruling in January from the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court said USA Track & Field did not have to divulge details of 13 positive cases from 1996-00.

"We cannot 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.