Olympic gold medalist sprinter Tim Montgomery:
… said he took testosterone and human growth hormone before the Sydney Olympics, and does not deserve the gold medal he won in the 400-meter relay.
The admission was made during an interview scheduled to air Tuesday night on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.” …
Montgomery never tested positive for drugs, but he was banned from track for two years and his world record in the 100 was erased after he was linked to the BALCO investigation. He retired after the ban was imposed in 2005. …
What happens to his Relay teammates if Mongomery is retroactively stripped of that medal.
What happens to the teammates if gymnasts Dong Fangxiao or Yang Yun are (someday) confirmed to have been too young to compete in Sydney? China won the Bronze medal as a team.
Retroactively disqualifying athletes is a tricky business.
There’s no perfect solution. But better, I think, is to punish the offending nation in the future. In the case of Montgomery, for example, perhaps the USA should not be allowed a 4x100m Relay Team at the next World Championships.
That, at least, would provide some incentive for the nation to police their own athletes.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 