Disgraced And Defeated
Representing your country in the Olympics is one of sports’ greatest pinnacles. Plenty of athletes train all their lives and never make it to the biggest stage of them all; for those who do, that is a feat in and of itself. But if you actually win a medal at the Olympics, you’re on top of the sporting world.
Let’s explore 40 Olympians who thought they’d won it all, only to have their medals revoked by the International Olympic Committee.
Jack Egan
Jack Egan was the first recorded person to have their medal stripped away, but his actual name was Frank Floyd. While using a pseudonym at the time was not illegal under Olympic rules, it was under the rules of the Amateur Athletic Union, under which Egan fought. Thus, Egan was stripped of his Welterweight and Lightweight medals.
Ben Johnson
Canada's Ben Johnson won the gold medal in the 100m sprint at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He had been the World Record holder for the 60 and 100-metre events and won two bronze medals at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. He was even made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987.
Unfortunately, Johnson's urinalysis after the 1988 race showed the presence of steroids. Johnson was stripped of his medals and disgraced. He has since protested his innocence, to no avail.
Mafugah, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Marion Jones
The 2000 Sydney Olympics were a banner year for the United States' Marion Jones. She won three gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x400m relay and two bronze medals in the long jump and 4x100m relay. Jones' would be stripped of her medals some seven years later, when she confessed to lying to a grand jury that was convened in the wake of the 2000 Sydney Games following doping accusations against the American Olympic squad.
She was also sentenced to six months in prison for perjury.
Rick Sforza, Wikimedia Commons
Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis is one of the fortunate ones from the fallout of the 1988 Seoul Games. As Canada's Ben Johnson was disgraced, Lewis was elevated. His silver medal in the race was elevated to a gold medal, following Johnson's performance-enhancing drug (PED) testing and subsequent medal-stripping. He lost a silver and gained a gold—not often you can say that outside of the Olympics!
Manfred Werner - Tsui, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Jason Turner
Another turnabout of fortune for an Olympian is the case of Jason Turner in 2008. After finishing fourth in Beijing's 2008 Games, Turner's finish was upgraded to a bronze medal following the disqualification of the third-placed finisher, who we'll come to later.
Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe had his medals taken away for being, well, too good at other things. Jim Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912, finishing first in the pentathlon AND decathlon—an almost Herculean feat of athletic ability. He was stripped of the gold medals by the IOC for playing semi-professional baseball.
At the time, one could not play an amateur sport while also being an Olympian. Thorpe's medals were eventually restored 70 years later, three decades after his passing.
Harris & Ewing, Wikimedia Commons
Hans Gunnar-Liljenwall
Hans Gunnar-Liljenwall was the first Olympian to fall victim to the IOC's rules against anti-doping in the 1968 Summer Olympics. Gunnar-Liljenwall's team won a bronze in the pentathlon event, but he had drank two beers prior the event to calm himself down. Of course, it showed up on tests of his blood-alcohol level and he was disqualified.
Swedish Olympic Committee, Wikimedia Commons
Ibragim Samadov
Ibragim Samadov is an unusual case as he refused to accept his bronze medal. Instead, he left it on the podium and walked away to raucous boos from the crowd. Apparently, this was an act of protest—against what is unclear. Samadov was stripped of his medal the following day and banned for life by the IOC.
Frank Rothwell OLY, World Weightlifting Championships
Marika Kilius & Hans-Jürgen Baümler
Before Olympians were allowed to be professional skaters outside of their Olympic commitments, the German pairing of Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Baümler won a silver medal at the 1964 Innsbruck Games. Unfortunately for the pair, it was discovered they had signed professional skating contracts for a European figure skating show, voiding their amateur status under IOC rules at the time.
20 years later, in 1987, the IOC reversed it's decision and re-awarded the medals to Kilius and Baümler.
Harry Pot, CC0,Wikimedia Commons
Rick DeMont
Rick DeMont was something of an American national darling at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, winning a gold medal in the 400m freestyle. Unfortunately for DeMont, his urinalysis showed the presence of Marax, an asthmatic medication (DeMont was asthmatic). He never hid his use of Marax from the US medical team, they simply failed to check for it in his bloodstream.
DeMont's gold medal was never restored and he sued the United States Olympic Committee for their part in the saga.
Ingemar Johansson
Ingemar Johansson was a Swedish boxer who's tactics got him into trouble at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was fighting Ed Sanders, but was deemed to be lethargic and slow throughout the fight, which caused the referee to disqualify him for "passivity".
His conduct was deemed unsportsmanlike by the IOC and his silver medal was taken away. Johansson protested that he was simply trying to tire Sanders out by moving slowly.
Thirty years later in 1982, Johansson was re-awarded the medal.
Jowil, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Ara Abrahamian
Ara Abrahamian was a very successful Armenian wrestler during the early 2000s, winning World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He was on course for another silver in 2008 at Beijing, when a judge's controversial call left him upset and accusatory.
He thought the judges had been bribed, so left his would-be silver medal on the podium—shades of his Eastern European compatriot from decades past.
Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Dong Fangxiao
Dong Fangxiao is our first female entrant on this list (and won't be the last). She was an extraordinarily talented Chinese gymnast who won a bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics for her team. Unfortunately for Dong, she was 14 years old at the time. IOC rules stipulated that you had to be 16 to compete at an Olympic level.
The IOC didn't discover the Benjamin-Button-style ruse until 2008, when Fangxiao was made an official for the Games in Beijing and listed her birth year as 1986, instead of 1984 as it had been in 2000. Oops.
Nadzeya Astapchuk
Nadzeya Astapchuk is a Bulgarian shot-putter who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and won gold. Unfortunately for Nadzeya, her coach spiked her food with a PED and she failed the subsequent testing. She was stripped of the gold medal and previous medals from the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Erik van Leeuwen, Wikimedia Commons
Tyler Hamilton
The American cyclist Tyler Hamilton was one of the first American cyclists from the 2004 team to be stripped of his medals for "blood doping", which is when another person's blood is found in your bloodstream. Gross, I know, but effective for Hamilton who won a gold medal.
It was later taken away by the IOC following the 2012 revelation of a certain other American cyclist...
richardmasoner, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
US Men's Team—4x400m Relay
One of the first times that an entire team had their medals yanked was in the 2000 Olympics when one of the four runners for US Men's team, Jerome Young, was found to have violated doping rules.
They had their medals reinstated because, although he was on the team, Young didn't actually run in that race. They were then yanked again when years later, Antonio Pettigrew admitted to doping.
Izabela Dragneva
Another "team player" was Izabela Dragneva, a Bulgarian weightlifter who became the first woman in Olympic history to win a gold medal in weightlifting at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately for Dragneva, she (and almost the entire Bulgarian team) failed their PED tests and were disqualified and banned from competing in any IOC events for a year.
Ivan Ivanov
Ivan won't be winning any medals for the most creative name and he certainly didn't win a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics for weightlifting. Well, he did, but then was disqualified along with most of his other Bulgarian teammates and his medal was taken away.
2000 was a bad year for Bulgarian Olympics.
Angel Matos
Cuban martial artist, Angel Matos will always be remembered for his fantastic Taekwondo skills...that he imparted upon the referee at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Matos was taking a medical time-out (that lasts for one minute) during the bronze medal match. He did not return to the ring in time for the match to resume following that break, thus the referee called the fight and awarded it to his opponent.
Matos then kicked the ref in the face. He was immediately banned for life from the World Taekwondo Federation and the Olympic Games and basically everywhere else.
Andreea Răducan
Andreea Răducan is a Romanian gymnast who was just 16 when she won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately for her, the team doctor had given her cold medicine, which contained several banned substances that showed up in her post-win testing.
Raducan protested her innocence to no avail and though she was not banned, the team doctor and her medal were never reinstated.
AdySarbus, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Ross Rebagliati
Ross Rebagliati fell victim to unclear rules at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, when his gold medal in the men's giant slalom was stripped for testing positive for THC. However, the Canadian Olympic Association found that the IOC did not list THC as a banned substance, so the IOC was forced to re-award Rebagliati his gold.
However, cannabis was almost immediately added to the list of banned substances.
Roland Tanglao, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Kamila Valieva
Kamila Valieva was retroactively stripped of her gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics following accusations of doping after a failed doping test, despite the Russian Olympic Committees refusal to do so. The IOC and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has banned Valieva from competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Tatarstan.ru, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Jordan Chiles
The most recent medal stripping came at this year's Olympic Games in Paris, as Jordan Chiles was stripped of the bronze medal during the all-around artistic Women's gymnastics' singles events. She was disqualified for a misstep during her leadup to her routine, which saw her step out-of-bounds.
However, the IOC and the United States team remain at odds, after the United States reportedly found footage showing that Chiles was in fact inside the boundaries at the time of her routine. The plot thickens...
Ocoudis, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Alain Baxter
Alain Baxter was the first Briton to ever win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics skiing event, which he did at the 2002 Winter Olympics in the men's slalom. Unfortunately for British pride and Alain, he later tested positive for a PED and his medal was taken away.
Olga Danilova
There's no doubt that Russian Olga Danilova was a very talented cross-country skier. Unfortunately, she was also a cheat— her two gold and one silver medals from the 1998 Nagano Games, along with her three 2002 medals of both gold and silver were stripped in 2004 by the IOC, when a PED was found in her bloodstream.
Eduard Egorov, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Larisa Lazutina
Another Russian medallist who did very well at the 1998 and 2002 Games was Larisa Lazutina, winning five medals in the '98 games and three medals at the 2002 Games. For her performance in 1998, she was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation by Boris Yeltsin.
Unfortunately for Lazutina, she and her compatriot (above-mentioned) would test positive for darbepoetin, a PED designed to increase red blood cell production.
Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Ludger Beerbaum
Despite the name, it was not beer that undid German equestrian rider Ludger Beerbaum and his horse, Goldfever. No ("neigh", you might say), it was Betamethasone, an equine anti-inflammatory, that landed Beerbaum and Goldfever in hot water.
As a result, the gold medal that he'd helped Germany win was stripped and replaced by a bronze, as the German team's results were good enough after Beerbaum and Goldfever (tail firmly between legs) were disqualified.
Vinod Divakaran CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cao Lei
Cao Lei was a Chinese weightlifter and, for a time, multiple record-holder and gold medalist for her performances at the 2008 Olympic Games. It took nine years for the International Olympic Committee to announce that Lei's medals would be stripped and records annulled due to doping violations around the use of human growth hormones.
Liu Chunhong
One of the triumvirate of Chinese athlete weightlifters to lose their medals from the 2008 Beijing Games, Liu Chunhong was a teammate of the Cao Lei, who also tested positive for the use of human growth hormones.
Chen Xiexia
The final of the Chinese athletes to be stripped of their Olympic weightlifting titles in 2008 was Chen Xiexia. She won gold at the 2008 Olympics, but following the 2017 revelation that she, too, used PEDs, the gold was instead awarded to the bronze medalist, Chen Wei-Ling of Chinese Taipei.
Kim Jong-su
One of only 59 medalists from North Korea in the history of the Olympic Games, Kim Jong-su had both his bronze and silver medals stripped from him in the shooting events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was found that Jong-su had propranolol in his system, which is a beta blocker designed to reduce trembling.
Tyson Gay
One of America's most famous runners was Tyson Gay, winning a silver medal in 2012 Summer Olympics in the 4x100m relay. He had previously secured a 2007 World Championship win over Usain Bolt!
Unfortunately for Gay, he tested positive for PED in 2013 and was stripped of his 2012 silver medal. He claimed, "I put my trust in someone else and they let me down", ominously leaving the person unnamed.
Tab59, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Chijundu Ujah
In the 2020 Summer Olympics, British runner Chijundu "CJ" Ujah and his teammates were off to the races and celebrating a gold medal in the 4x100m relay. This was following European championship victories in 2016 and 2018 and a World Championship in 2017.
Unfortunately, when CJ tested positive for two banned substances, he (and his relay team) were banned for 22 months in 2021 and stripped of their gold.
Erik van Leeuwen, Wikimedia Commons
Alsi Çakir Alpetkin
Alsi Çakir Alpetkin was one of two Turks competing in the 1500m race at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She came under intense scrutiny following her winning of a gold medal in the race. She subsequently was found guilty of blood doping in 2015 and forfeited her 2012 gold medal.
She was banned for life from competing for Turkey by the Turkish Athletics Federation following another positive doping test in 2017.
Erik van Leeuwen, CC BY-SA 3.0Wikimedia Commons
Gamze Bulut
Gamze Bulut was a teammate of Alsi Çakir Alpetkin in 2012 and was due to be awarded the gold medal for the 2012 London Olympics in the 1500m race. Unfortunately, Bulut's "athlete passport" showed inconsistencies which raised suspicions. An athlete passport is a device that monitors blood changes over time, checking for the use of blood doping.
Bulut was found guilty of blood doping in 2016 and was stripped of all medals and records, including her would-be gold in 2012.
Multiple Russian Athletes (2008 Summer Olympic Games)
The first of two major doping scandals to hit the Olympics came in 2008 when 19 Russian athletes were disqualified and stripped of their medals following a huge scandal that rocked the Olympic sporting world.
Doma-w, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Multiple Russian Athletes (2012 Summer Olympic Games)
Another major doping scandal would hit the Summer Olympics in 2012 as Russian athletes were yet again caught up in a whirlwind of allegations and positive tests for PEDs. 18 athletes were stripped of various medals, including multiple gold medal winnings.
Kremlin.ru, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Leonidas Sabanis
Leonidas Sabanis was most definitely not channeling his inner Spartan warrior when he was stripped of his bronze medal for weightlifting in the 2004 Summer Olympics due to doping. He had previously won two silver medals at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
Tony Marshall - EMPICS, Getty Images
Johan Mulegg
German-born Spanish citizen, Johan Mulegg, a skiing extraordinaire (and alleged oddball) that was ejected from the West German team at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, chose to represent Spain at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
He won two gold medals for Spain during that Olympics that were later revoked due to the presence of darbepoetin in his bloodstream.
Lance Armstrong
We saved the greatest treachery for last. Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner and bronze medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics was stripped of that medal and all of his Tour de France wins following career-shattering revelations that he took PEDs from 1999 to 2005, winning multiple Tour de France titles and that Olympic bronze in the process. In his 2013 confession interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong admitted that he'd been doping since he was 21 years old!
Considered by many to be a cycling and sporting hero, Armstrong’s revelations destroyed his reputation, his brand "Livestrong" that he'd built, and his professional life.
Do you think we've missed any brazen acts of cheating that should have warranted a medal stripping? Any athletes who were unfairly stripped of their Olympic titles? Let us know in the comments!
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