US Relay Team Stripped of Medals

The entire US men's sprint relay team was stripped of its silver medals from the 2012 London Olympics on Wednesday as a result of Tyson Gay's doping case. The International Olympic Committee notified the US Olympic Committee by letter that the 4x100 relay team has been disqualified and all the medals withdrawn. The letter asks the USOC to collect the medals and return them to the IOC. "As expected, following USADA's decision in the Tyson Gay case, the IOC today confirmed that the US team has been disqualified from the 4x100-meter race that was part of the athletics competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games," USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky says in a statement.

"We will begin efforts to have the medals returned, and support all measures to protect clean athletes." Gay returned his own medal last year after accepting a one-year doping suspension and the loss of results going back to July 2012, but the status of the US second-place finish in London and the medals of Gay's relay teammates had remained in limbo until now. Under international rules, an entire team can be disqualified and stripped of medals because of doping by one member. Gay was a member of the American team that finished second in London behind a Jamaican team anchored by Usain Bolt. The Americans set a national record in the final with a time of 37.04 seconds. (More sports doping stories.)