IOC could strip Armstrong of Sydney Olympic bronze medal

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working its way through the evidence supplied to the UCI by USADA in order to make a decision over whether to strip Lance Armstrong of his bronze medal from the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

Armstrong finished third in the individual time trial behind Russia's Viatcheslav Ekimov and Germany's Jan Ullrich.

When USADA handed Armstrong a lifetime ban on August 24 this year, the American was disqualified from any and all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to August 1, 1998, despite the eight-year statute of limitations.

"The IOC is aware of the USADA report and is currently studying it with all the corresponding documentation," a spokesman said in a release to AFP.

"It would be premature at this stage to say if the IOC envisages taking any steps. If we find proof that justifies the opening of disciplinary procedures, we will of course act as a result."

Ullrich walked away from the Sydney Olympics with a gold medal from the men's road race as well as his silver medal from the time trial and following an investigation by the IOC, was allowed to keep his medals due to a lack of evidence.

Former Armstrong teammate Tyler Hamilton handed back the gold medal he earned in the 2004 Olympic Games time trial after his doping confession in 2011. This year, those medals were reassigned with Ekimov promoted to gold, silver to Bobby Julich (USA) and bronze to Michael Rogers (Australia).