The International Olympic Committee stripped four 2004 Athens Olympics track and field athletes of their medals on Wednesday after retesting about 100 doping samples. Yuriy Bilonog of the Ukraine (gold, shot put), Ivan Tskikhan (silver, hammer throw) and Irina Yatchenko (bronze, discus) of Belarus and Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia (bronze, shot put) all lost their medals. IOC rules allow blood samples to be frozen for eight years after competition and then tested again using improved technology. Both shot put winners at the Athens Games have now tested positive for doping and lost their medals.
The U.S. gained a gold medal, as , but will also lose a bronze when the IOC strips Lance Armstrong of his medal from the 2000 Sydney Games. “If the UCI have the ability to remove all these titles,” said IOC vice president Craig Reedie, “we should have the ability to remove a bronze medal. Once they go through their procedures, then we’ll go through ours.” For now, the IOC must wait for the International Cycling Union to formally notify Armstrong of the loss of all results since August 1998.
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