The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is desperately looking for ways to break its own rules when it comes to stripping Lance Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Armstrong placed third in the Cycling Individual Time Trial. Now, twelve years later, the IOC wants its medal back. The only problem is that the IOC has to find a way around the its own rules.
The IOC has an eight-year statute of limitations that applies to any changes in Olympic results. The decision to take away Armstrong’s Olympic medal has reportedly already been made. It is only a matter of finding the proper procedure to accomplish this objective. The IOC lawyers have been feverishly working to find a loophole or some way that the IOC can save face while violating its self-imposed statute of limitations.
The IOC has been emboldened by the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) decision to break its rules in order to invalidate 14 years worth of cycling results, including seven Tour de France victories, by Armstrong.
John Coates, an Australian IOC executive board member, believes USADA set a precedent that the IOC should follow.
“I would hope we can deal with it because the evidence (against Armstrong) is overwhelming,” said Coates. “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.”
USADA, for its part, justified throwing out its own rules by arguing that the statute of limitations was no longer relevant since Armstrong attempted to fraudulently conceal his doping. While USADA claimed Armstrong doped, Armstrong has not been charged by any law enforcement agency with breaking the law.
Travis Tygart, the chief executive officer of USADA, admitted that the agency set aside the statute as punishment for Armstrong’s failure to cooperate with USADA. According to Tygart, Armstrong could have kept five of his Tour de France titles if he had worked with USADA.
“[If Armstrong had] come in and been truthful, then the evidence might have been that the statute (of limitations) should apply,” Tygart said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board will meet in Lausanne on December 4-5, 2012 to discuss Armstrong’s fate.
Source:
AP. (November 30, 2012). IOC ready to take away Armstrong’s Olympic bronze. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2012/11/30/ioc-ready-to-take-away-armstrongs-olympic-bronze/1737675/
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