<p>IIRC, he did try to pull out but his delegation didn’t get the request submitted in time. I can’t really blame him, it’s very difficult to go all out on two races beyond 400m, especially if (presumably) you don’t like one of the races to begin with and don’t have a great medal shot in it.</p>
<p>Cycling must be one of the dirtiest sports around:</p>
<p>[IOC</a> to formally strip Tyler Hamilton of 2004 gold - thestar.com](<a href=“http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/cycling/article/1239239--ioc-to-formally-strip-tyler-hamilton-of-2004-gold]IOC”>http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/cycling/article/1239239--ioc-to-formally-strip-tyler-hamilton-of-2004-gold)</p>
<p>Good to see the best way they’ve figured out how to test for doping is if an athlete admits it on a nationally broadcast TV show.</p>
<p>Why is this gold medal swimmer who admitted to cheating (taking more than the allowed underwater dolphin kicks) not stripped of his medal? [Gold</a> medal swimmer admits to cheating at Games ? USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/story/2012-08-07/Gold-medal-swimmer-admits-to-cheating-at-Games/56854568/1]Gold”>http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/story/2012-08-07/Gold-medal-swimmer-admits-to-cheating-at-Games/56854568/1)</p>
<p>The “everybody does it” argument should not, pardon the pun, hold water.</p>
<p>They’re right to take the gold away from Hamilton, because he admitted he cheated, but probably one or more of the new gold medalist (Ekimov), the new silver medalist and the new bronze medalist doped too. Because they all do.</p>
<p>Another area of potential bias is the appealing process. I always wonder if it matters what nation is doing the appealing, and whether the nation(s) negatively affected by the appeal makes a difference in the outcome.</p>
<p>Does anyone know?</p>
<p>^^Yes, sometimes which country is making an argument in an Olympic appeal matters as much or more than the merits of the argument. </p>
<p>For example Olympic officials sometime get “mad at” a certain country or their team for some reason and refuse appeals from them that would normally be routinely granted. A good example was in 1972. Four years earlier two US sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, had created an international ruckus with their famous gloved “black power” salute on the medal stand. They were kicked out of the games. </p>
<p>Then in sort of repeat in 1972, two other US sprinters didn’t exactly raise their fists, but expressed much the same contempt by disrespectfully slouching, chatting, and making faces instead of standing at attention during the anthem for the 400m medal ceremony. They were kicked out of the games too, and the IOC was livid that a second incident had occurred.</p>
<p>A third US 400m man got injured, so that plus the DQs of the two protesters left the US team a man short for the 4x400m relay - which was going to be a gold medal lock for the US team. Well, the US team had plenty of other talented world class sprinters on hand they could use as substitutes. Pretty much any of the the entire 200m team or the 400m hurdlers could easily have been inserted on the relay team, and the US still would have won. And even though such substitutions were not only routinely allowed, they were in fact specifically allowed by the rules, the IOC gave a flat No! They were clearly furious with the US team and were out to punish it for having sullied the games once again with a political protest.</p>
<p>^I was thinking of the Winter Games in Salt Lake City, where the Europeans got together to try to steal the gold medal from Canada in ice dancing. If not for the intervention of the American audience, I am sure they would have got away with it. If the ice dancers were Americans, however, I am not sure the Europeans would dare. </p>
<p>When I saw the Korean fencer getting the shaft, I immediately check the nationality of the referee and the nationality of her competitor because the Salt Lake City incidence is still fresh in my mind. Lets just say I am not surprised by the result of the appeal.</p>
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<p>I thought this message is harsh until I came across the following:</p>
<p>[The</a> Olympic Dealer [interview with ngel Heredia] - Boxing Socialist](<a href=“http://www.boxingsocialist.com/profiles/blogs/the-olympic-dealer-interview-with-ngel-heredia]The”>http://www.boxingsocialist.com/profiles/blogs/the-olympic-dealer-interview-with-ngel-heredia)</p>
<p>What a revelation.</p>
<p>Canuckguy, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were pairs skaters, not ice dancers.</p>
<p>^What was I thinking? You are of course correct.</p>
<p>Drug test results are already coming in, and new retest results of 2004 are coming shortly:</p>
<p>[Belarus</a> shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk stripped of gold for doping | Sport | guardian.co.uk](<a href=“http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/13/belarusian-shot-putter-nadzeya-ostapchuk-gold]Belarus”>http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/13/belarusian-shot-putter-nadzeya-ostapchuk-gold)</p>
Here’s an interesting followup on this topic from a few years ago. The article refers to the later history of Ye, the swimmer who was the primary focus of the discussion. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/qing-wenyi-how-sudden-death-of-a-teenage-girl-throws-doping-suspicion-on-chinese-swimming-ian-a6735461.html
There are also some interesting articles around about Katy Ledecky, and how some people have trouble believing that her superhuman feats are being achieved without doping.