Many American athletes have been stripped of their Olympic medals over the years.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which oversees the games, can rescind medals — especially if athletes have violated the Olympics’ regulations. Most of the time, athletes get their medals stripped for doping infractions.
Most famously, Lance Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. The cyclist, who won bronze at the 2000 Olympics, returned his medal to the IOC 13 years later.
While the IOC has removed medals from participants for other reasons, it is a rare occurrence. In 2024, Jordan Chiles had her bronze medal reallocated to Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu after the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) ruled Chiles’ score adjustment, which helped her clinch the award at the Paris Games, was requested four seconds past the deadline.
Keep scrolling to see which Team USA athletes have been stripped of their medals and why:
Jack Egan
The boxer, whose real name was Frank Joseph Floyd, won a silver and bronze medal at the 1904 Olympics. However, the rules of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) stated it was illegal to fight under a pseudonym. The following year, Egan was disqualified from all AAU competitions and had to return all his prizes, including his two Olympic medals.
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Jim Thorpe
Thorpe made history as the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. During the 1912 games, he earned the gold for the decathlon and pentathlon.
The athlete lost his Olympic titles after it was learned that he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics. At the time, the Olympics had amateurism rules in place so pro athletes were forbidden from participating.
Thorpe died in 1953 and 30 years later, the IOC restored his Olympic medals with replicas after the organization ruled that the decision to strip him of his medals occurred past the required 30 days.
Rick DeMont
The swimmer won gold in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the 1972 Olympics. Following the race, the IOC stripped DeMont of his medal after he tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine, which was present in his asthma medication. (DeMont previously declared he was taking the medication on his medical forms, but the U.S. Olympic Committee had not cleared it with the IOC’s medical committee.)
DeMont was subsequently barred from competing in additional events at the 1972 games.
Marion Jones. David Madison/Getty Images
Marion Jones
The track star won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Olympics. During the games, her ex-husband, C.J. Hunter, tested positive for steroids. In 2004, Hunter testified under oath that he saw Jones also inject herself with steroids at the Olympic Village. However, Jones denied the allegations as she never failed a drug test.
Seven years later, Jones admitted she lied to federal agents under oath about her steroid use prior to the 2000 Olympics. She pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to making false statements in two separate cases, one being the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (which was distributing steroids to athletes) and another being a check-counterfeiting scheme that involved Jones endorsing a fraudulent $25,000 check.
Ultimately, Jones served six months in a federal prison and was required to surrender both her U.S. and Belizean passports.
Following Jones’ confession, the U.S. Olympic Committee called for Jones to return her medals. The organization formally stripped Jones of her medals and banned her from 2008 games.
Antonio Pettigrew and Jerome Young
Pettigrew and Young were members of the 2000 Olympics relay team who won gold. However, the duo lost their medals in 2008 after coach Trevor Graham listed Pettigrew as one of his athletes who used performance-enhancing drugs. Pettigrew admitted to using the substances and voluntarily returned his medal.
Following Pettigrew’s confession, Young’s medal was also stripped. Young, for his part, also committed a doping offense dating in 1999. He was ultimately banned from the sport.
Lance Armstrong
The legendary cyclist lost his three bronze medals from the 2000 games following his doping scandal. After years of speculation, the U.S. federal prosecutors pursued allegations against Armstrong in 2010.
The case led to an investigation which lasted for two years. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) released details of their findings against Armstrong in a 200-page report. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency did not appeal the USADA’s report.
In 2013, the IOC ultimately requested the return of Armstrong’s bronze medal. That same year, Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drug and apologized.
Tyler Hamilton. Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images
Tyler Hamilton
The cyclist won a gold medal in the individual time trial at the 2004 Olympics. After winning, Hamilton received a positive result for doping. Since the athlete’s backup testing sample was frozen, a doping offense could not be proven. Hamilton kept his medal at the time.
Later that year, Hamilton tested positive again and was suspended from the sport. In 2008, he returned to the sport. However, Hamilton failed a doping test in 2009 and was banned from the sport for eight years. He subsequently retired.
In 2011, Hamilton confessed that he did use banned substances throughout his competitions and returned his gold medal.
Tyson Gay
The sprinter earned a silver medal in the 4×100-meter relay during the 2012 Olympics. The following year, Gay tested positive for a banned substance, and he subsequently withdrew from the world championships in Moscow. The USADA suspended him for a year and stripped him of his medal.
Jordan Chiles. Naomi Baker/Getty Images
Jordan Chiles
At the 2024 Olympics, Chiles initially came in fifth place before Team USA asked the judges to reexamine the gymnast’s score based on the level of difficulty for a specific leap. The inquiry was granted which upped Chiles to third place, knocking Bărbosu down to fourth.
Days later, Team Romania filed an inquiry with the CAS about the validity of Team USA’s challenge. The CAS found that the U.S.’s inquiry was filed four seconds after the 1-minute deadline. Following the decision, Chiles was ultimately stripped of her medal by the IOC.
“Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu,” the IOC wrote in a statement. “We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
After news broke of the decision, Team USA slammed the decision and shared they allegedly had video evidence proving that Chiles should keep her medal.
“USA Gymnastics on Sunday formally submitted a letter and video evidence to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule,” a statement shared by USA Gymnastics read. “In the letter, USA Gymnastics requests that the CAS ruling be revised and Chiles’ bronze-medal score of 13.776 be reinstated.”
