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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

The wheels keep coming off

Seems certain IOC will strip Armstrong of Sydney medal

By: Stephen Wilson

Posted: 12/1/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Lance Armstrong (CP)

LONDON -- His seven Tour de France titles erased from cycling's record books, Lance Armstrong still holds claim to one piece of sports silverware: an Olympic medal.

But for how much longer?

Twelve years after Armstrong won bronze in the road time trial at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the IOC wants the medal back because of his involvement in a wide-reaching doping scandal.

The fate of Armstrong's medal will be addressed when the International Olympic Committee executive board meets next week in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The board could decide to strip the medal then and there, or wait another few weeks until cycling's governing body has officially notified Armstrong of the loss of his Tour titles.

IOC lawyers are studying whether the eight-year statute of limitations applies in this case, an issue that could push back a decision. But the IOC's resolve to revoke the medal and wipe Armstrong from the Olympic records is clear; the only issue is the timing and procedure.

"The board will consider this case," IOC vice-president Thomas Bach, a German lawyer who heads the body's doping investigations, told The Associated Press on Friday. "The board is following a zero-tolerance policy on doping."

Craig Reedie, an IOC vice-president from Britain, added: "We need to get this one behind us."

The IOC opened a disciplinary case last month 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 international cycling federation, the UCI, ratified USADA's decision to strip Armstrong of his seven Tour titles from 1995-2005 and ban him for life. WADA and the UCI annulled all of Armstrong's results since Aug. 1, 1998.

The IOC has an eight-year statute for changing Olympic results, but officials believe the decision by USADA and the cycling body to go back 14 years to disqualify Armstrong should clear the way for them to reach back to 2000.

"I would hope we can deal with it because the evidence (against Armstrong) is overwhelming," Australian IOC executive board member John Coates told The Australian newspaper. "USADA and the UCI went outside the eight-year limit on the basis that the statute simply doesn't apply if you have broken the law, so I imagine our lawyer will see if that applies with us."

Two months after winning his second Tour de France title in 2000, Armstrong took bronze in Sydney.

The IOC has no plans to reallocate Armstrong's bronze medal to any other rider.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 1, 2012 C5

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