AP sources: IOC strips Armstrong of Olympic medal

 
No Author Published: January 17, 2013    Comment on this article Leave a comment

LONDON (AP) — The IOC has stripped Lance Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics because of his involvement in doping, officials familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Thursday.

photo - FILE - In a Sept. 30, 2000 file photo, U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong waves after receiving the bronze medal in the men's individual time trials at the 2000 Summer Olympics cycling road course in Sydney, Australia. Officials familiar with the decision tell The Associated Press the IOC has stripped Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics because of his involvement in doping. Two officials say the IOC sent a letter to Armstrong on Wednesday night, Jan. 16, 2013,  asking him to return the medal.  (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)
FILE - In a Sept. 30, 2000 file photo, U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong waves after receiving the bronze medal in the men's individual time trials at the 2000 Summer Olympics cycling road course in Sydney, Australia. Officials familiar with the decision tell The Associated Press the IOC has stripped Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics because of his involvement in doping. Two officials say the IOC sent a letter to Armstrong on Wednesday night, Jan. 16, 2013, asking him to return the medal. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)

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Two officials said the IOC sent a letter to Armstrong on Wednesday night asking him to return the medal. The move came after the International Olympic Committee was notified by cycling's governing body that Armstrong had not appealed the decision to disqualify him.

The officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the decision hasn't been announced.

The IOC executive board discussed revoking the medal last month, but delayed a decision until cycling body UCI formally notified Armstrong he had been 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 letter to Armstrong also was sent to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The move was confirmed to the AP on the same day that Armstrong's admission of using performance-enhancing drugs — after years of denials — is to be broadcast in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The timing of the IOC move, however, was not related to the TV interview.

Two months after winning his second Tour de France title in 2000, Armstrong took bronze in Sydney in the road time trial behind winner and U.S. Postal Service teammate Vyacheslav Ekimov of Russia and Jan Ullrich of Germany.

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