Lance Armstrong stripped of Olympic Bronze medal: Reports

Zeenews Sports Bureau

London: Banned cyclist Lance Armstrong has been stripped of the 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medal, by the IOC, according to reports in the Associated Press. This is being seen as a consequence of Armstrong not appealing against his disqualification. The IOC executive board discussed revoking the medal last month, but delayed a decision until UCI formally notified Armstrong about his being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and all results since 1998. He then had 21 days to appeal. Now that the deadline has expired, the IOC decided to take the medal away. The IOC had opened a disciplinary case, in November 2012, after a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report detailed widespread doping by Armstrong and his teammates. The report called it the most sophisticated doping program in sports. The IOC will not reallocate Armstrong's bronze medal, just as the UCI decided not to declare any winners for the Tour titles once held by the American. Spanish rider Abraham Olano Manzano, who finished fourth in Sydney, will not be upgraded and the bronze medal placing will be left vacant in Olympic records. In August, the IOC stripped Tyler Hamilton, a former Armstrong teammate, of his time-trial gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics after he admitted to doping. With PTI inputs