Four Olympic gold medalists were stripped of their medals Wednesday after testing positive in a drug test, which revealed the use of steroids. The 2004 winners were Yuriy Bilong of Ukraine, gold medalist in men's shot put; Svetlana Krivelyova of Russina, bronze medalist in women's shot put; Iryna Yatchenko of Belarus, bronze medalist in women's discus and Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus, silver medalist in men's hammer throw.
According to the New York Times, the International Olympic Committee released a statement indicating, "The I.O.C., in close collaboration with the World Anti-Doping Agency, decided to further analyze a number of samples from the Athens Games result of targeted testing based on intelligence and new methods."
The I.O.C stripped all four of the medals they won in the 2004 Olympics, which took place in Athens Greece. The respective medals will go to the athletes who scored second to the winners. In the case of Bilong of Ukraine, this means the gold medal will now go to Adam Nelson of the U.S.A., Nelson also won the silver in the 2000 Olympics Game that took place in Sydney, Australia.
Nelson told the New York Times that he was happy with the news, " I heard rumors about Yuriy and doping at the Games, but I dismissed them. But now it comes to light that it's true."
The I.O.C., along with the World Anti-Doping Agency said that all four tested positive for anabolic steroids, which was obtained from urine samples taken from them eight years ago. According to the law, this is the duration for which such samples can be stored and tested.
