Lance Armstrong finally returns Olympic bronze medal to IOC

Washington: Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong`s Olympic medal is back with the International Olympic Committee after the body said that it had received the medal from the US Olympic Committee and placed it in storage at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said that the return of the medal marked the end of a sad chapter for the sport. The IOC will not reallocate Armstrong`s bronze medal, just as cycling`s ruling body decided not to declare any winners for the seven Tour de France titles once held by the American. Armstrong finished third in the road time trial in Sydney behind winner and US Postal Service teammate Vyacheslav Ekimov of Russia and Jan Ullrich of Germany. Armstrong denied doping for years until his confession in January in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The confession came after a US Anti-Doping Agency report detailed widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by Armstrong and his USPS team. Armstrong was stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999-2005. ANI