# Does the IOC actually get the medals back? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 17, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534 "2013-01-17T18:16:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/1 "2013-01-17T18:16:25Z")
[Lance Armstrong Stripped Of Olympic Medal By IOC](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/lance-armstrong-stripped-olympic-medal-ioc_n_2494459.html) In the article it says, > [@](#): > > The International Olympic Committee sent a letter to Armstrong on Wednesday night asking him to return the medal, just as it said it planned to do last month. > [@](#): > > The letter to Armstrong was also sent to the U.S. Olympic Committee, which would collect the medal. When Olympic medalists are asked to return their medal, do they actually return it? How much effort does the Committee take to get it back? Are further steps taken if the athlete does not comply? If a medal is returned, what does the Committee do with it then? ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/2 "2013-01-17T19:02:39Z")
[Sprinter Ben Johnson had to physically give his back](http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/23/sport/olympics-2012-ben-johnson-seoul-1988-dirtiest-race/index.html). Not sure about others, or what becomes of them. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/3 "2013-01-17T19:43:24Z")
[So did Marion Jones](http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=3054706) ---
**Author:** ![mbetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@mbetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbetter)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/4 "2013-01-17T19:58:41Z")
Does the IOC maintain some kind of title on the medals when they are awarded? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/5 "2013-01-17T20:06:51Z")
The IOC might be able to claim that the medals were obtained by fraud and thus never really became the property of the “winners”. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/6 "2013-01-17T20:09:35Z")
So, does everyone else in that event move up a notch, then? Will whoever was behind Armstrong that day now be a medalist? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/7 "2013-01-17T20:14:45Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > So, does everyone else in that event move up a notch, then? Will whoever was behind Armstrong that day now be a medalist? From the article: > [@](#): > > The IOC will not reallocate Armstrong’s bronze medal, just as cycling’s ruling body decided not to declare any winners for the Tour titles once held by the American. Spanish rider Abraham Olano Manzano, who finished fourth in Sydney, will not be upgraded and the bronze medal will be left vacant in Olympic records. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/8 "2013-01-17T20:29:56Z")
> [@mbetter](#): > > Does the IOC maintain some kind of title on the medals when they are awarded? I suspect that when an athlete participates in the Olympics, he/she signs a contract, including a clause that the medal is to be returned in the event of cheating. I’ve read that recent Academy Award winners have to agree not to sell the statuette on the open market but instead to give it back to the AMPAS should they need the money. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/9 "2013-01-18T14:00:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I suspect that when an athlete participates in the Olympics, he/she signs a contract, including a clause that the medal is to be returned in the event of cheating. I’ve read that recent Academy Award winners have to agree not to sell the statuette on the open market but instead to give it back to the AMPAS should they need the money. From what I’ve heard, Academy Award winners have to agree to give the Academy “Right of First Refusal” if they ever want to get rid of their Oscar. Specifically, they must offer to sell the Oscar back to the Academy for $1. Apparently, this started because some Oscars were being sold on the open market. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/10 "2013-01-18T19:30:01Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > So, does everyone else in that event move up a notch, then? Will whoever was behind Armstrong that day now be a medalist? In general yes, but not in this case, as has been said. Apparently the sport is so tainted that they don’t trust anyone. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/11 "2013-01-18T19:43:26Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > So, does everyone else in that event move up a notch, then? Will whoever was behind Armstrong that day now be a medalist? Not sure if it’s true, but when Jim Thorpe was stripped of his medals, the story is the second place athletes were promoted to first, but they all refused the medals. Might be glurge, but it’s a good story. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/12 "2013-01-18T19:59:53Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Not sure if it’s true, but when Jim Thorpe was stripped of his medals, the story is the second place athletes were promoted to first, but they all refused the medals. Might be glurge, but it’s a good story. Here’s a [similar incident](http://espn.go.com/high-school/story/_/id/3411085/after-winner-dqd-rest-field-shows-gesture-sportsmanship/) from a few years ago. The story doesn’t mention it but I remember that the reason she stepped over the line was because of some jostling in the pack. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/13 "2013-01-18T20:23:43Z")
Moved to the Game Room. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/14 "2013-01-18T20:49:17Z")
So what do they do if LA had already sold the medals to someone? Does he owe their cash value? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/15 "2013-01-18T21:18:27Z")
In the documentary [:03 from Gold (2002)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326717/), they actually showed the silver medals that the 1972 USA basketball team refused to accept, held in some vault in Switzerland, I believe. Not quite the same as the IOC demanding their return, but they were medals that they ended up with that were supposed to have been awarded. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ioc-actually-get-the-medals-back/647534/16 "2013-01-19T13:45:05Z")
I assume the Olympic medals, like many such tokens (e.g. club membership cards, public transport cards etc.) are presented with a clause attached along the lines of they remain the property of the issuer - in this case, the IOC. This would then give the IOC the right to re-claim their property in cases such as these.