Lance Armstrong surrenders Olympic medal to IOC
Lance Armstrong has surrendered the bronze medal he won in the 2000 Olympics to the International Olympic Committee. The medal is now in a vault in Lausanne, Switzerland and will not be reallocated.
The IOC stripped Armstrong of his medal following his admission earlier this year of doping. Armstrong only returned the medal to the United States Olympic Committee in September. This brings to a close what IOC spokesman Mark Adams termed "a sad chapter for the sport," according to the AP.
In the Sydney Games, Armstrong finished third in the road time trial behind Vyachaslev Ekimov (Russia) and Jan Ullrich (Germany). The medal will not go to fourth-place finisher Abraham Olano Manzano, and will remain at the IOC's headquarters. The record book will simply remain vacant, just as in the case of the seven Tour de Frances Armstrong won. Armstrong was similarly stripped of those victories.
Interestingly, the IOC did upgrade Ekimov to gold in the 2004 Games after Tyler Hamilton was stripped of his first-place finish last year.
Armstrong admitted earlier this year to doping during his career. The admission came after a far-reaching report detailed the intricate conspiracy necessary to conceal Armstrong's doping.
