Olympics Medal Update

The International Olympic Committee has stripped four Eastern European athletes of their medals won at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. They've also announced their intention to do the same to Lance Armstrong, though they are waiting for cycling's governing body, the UCI, to formally give that go-ahead, which they haven't yet done.

The affected events:

*Yuriy Bilonoh of Ukraine was stripped of his gold medal in the men's shot put. Adam Nelson of the United States will move up to gold. Joachim Olsen of Denmark will move up to silver. Manuel Martinez of Spain will move up to bronze. (They haven't formally moved up yet; there's the matter of actually reclaiming the medals first.)
*Ivan Tskikhan of Belarus was stripped of his silver medal in the men's hammer throw. Koji Murofushi of Japan's gold is unaffected. Esref Apak of Turkey will move up to silver. Vadim Devyatovskiy of Belarus will move up to bronze.
*Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia was stripped of her bronze medal in the women's shot put. Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba's gold is unaffected, as is the silver medal of Nadine Kleinert of Germany. Nadzeya Astapchuk of Belarus will move up to bronze.
*Irina Yatchenko of Belarus was stripped of her bronze medal in the women's discus throw. Natalya Sadova of Russia's gold is unaffected, as is the silver medal of Anastasia Kelesidou of Greece. Vera Popsisilova-Cechlova of the Czech Republic will move up to bronze.

I'm not exactly sure how to feel about Belarus getting stripped of a silver and bronze and gaining two more bronzes in return.

If and when Lance Armstrong is stripped of his medal- a bronze in the men's time trial in the 2000 Games in Sydney- Viacheslav Ekimov of Belarus and Jan Ullrich of Germany would remain at gold and silver. Abraham Olano of Spain would move up to bronze- that is, if the medal is reallocated. The UCI hasn't been big on reallocation of honors lately.

One more case remains pending, that of weightlifter Oleg Perepechenov of Russia, who holds bronze in the men's 77kg category. In the event that medal is also stripped, Taner Sagir of Turkey and Sergey Filomonov of Kazakhstan would remain at gold and silver. Reyhan Arabacioglu of Turkey would move up to bronze.