10 TImes Olympic Medals Were Taken Away

Top 10 Stripped Olympic Medals

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most infamous times Winter and Summer Olympic athletes were stripped of their medals and haven’t yet had them reinstated. We’ll explore the shocking scandal and its aftermath.

#10: Jordan Chiles

Paris 2024
After securing a gold in the Paris 2024 women's artistic team all-around event, USA’s Chiles followed it up by competing in the gymnastics individual floor. Her total score came to 13.666, which put her in fifth place. After disagreeing with the difficulty score Chiles received, her coach appealed, which was accepted, and she was bumped into third for the bronze medal. Romania, who weren’t happy with Ana Bărbosu losing her bronze, took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS found that Chiles’s coach had submitted the appeal 4 seconds after the 1 minute allocation. As such, Bărbosu was reinstated in third. The US appealed. However, CAS rejected it, drawing accusations of Romanian bias from the country's media.

#9: Dong Fangxiao

Sydney 2000
At Beijing 2008, Fangxiao, who retired from gymnastics after an injury, was set to be a technical official. However, Olympic officials noticed a discrepancy between her current date of birth and the one she was registered with when winning bronze for China’s women's artistic team all-around in Sydney 2000. During her athletic days, Fangxiao was stated to have been born in 1983. The new year was 1986. Due to this, Fangxiao would have been 14 years old in 2000, putting her 2 years under the minimum age outlined by the International Federation of Gymnastics. In 2010, Fangxiao and the team were stripped of their Olympic bronze medals and their third-place finish at the 1999 World Championships.

#8: Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall

Mexico 1968
Any athlete wants to be the holder of a World Record, especially if it’s to be the first in something. Yet no one wants Liljenwall's one. At Mexico 1968, new anti-doping regulations were making their Olympic debut after being introduced the year before. Competing in the individual and team modern pentathlon, Liljenwall helped Sweden secure a bronze medal in the latter. Yet soon afterward, he was found to have consumed alcohol, reported to be 2 beers, to steady his nerves for the shooting event. The International Olympic Committee, or IOC, disqualified Liljenwall and the Swedish team, securing the bronze for France and making Liljenwall the first athlete to be DQ’ed for doping.

#7: Andreea Răducan

Sydney 2000
Romania’s women’s gymnastics team were stars of Sydney 2000. They even took all podium places in the individual all-around, which gave the impressive Răducan 2 golds and a silver in the competition. But there were rumors that something was amiss with her after Răducan underperformed in the floor exercise. Shortly after, the IOC announced Răducan’s sample for the individual all-around had tested positive for the banned pseudoephedrine. Romania appealed, stating the substance was from a cold & flu medication given to Răducan by the team’s doctor. However, they were unsuccessful. Răducan’s gold went to her teammate, Simona Amânar, and China’s Liu Xuan was moved into the bronze position. She was able to keep her other medals as those samples were clean.

#6: Kamila Valieva

Beijing 2022
Coming into the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Russia’s Valieva was already an ice skating legend as a teenager after breaking many junior and senior world records. As a major part of her nation's figure skating team event, Valieva led Russia to the gold. Yet shortly after, it was reported she had failed a doping test in December 2021. Due to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency clearing her, the medal ceremony was delayed while the situation was investigated. Fearing banning Valieva would cause more damage to her mental health due to her age, CAS allowed her to continue competing in the Olympics. In 2024, Valieva was stripped of her team gold, was banned for 4 years, and had her records since the failed test expunged.

#5: Izabela Dragneva

Sydney 2000
In Sydney 2000, weightlifting for women made its debut. With the 48-kilogram category first up, the winner would’ve had their name written in history by becoming the first Olympic champion. Seemingly, this was achieved by Bulgaria’s Dragneva. Then, that feat was tarnished when Dragneva tested positive for diuretic furosemide. She was stripped of the gold, boosting the USA’s Tara Nott-Cunningham to gold. However, Dragneva wasn’t the only weightlifting Bulgarian to fail for the same substance. Ivan Ivanov won silver in the 56-kilogram before being disqualified for testing positive. With teammate Sevdalin Minchev’s 62-kilogram bronze also ruled out for doping, the whole Bulgarian team was sent home by the IOC, damaging the nation’s reputation in the sport for years.

#4: Ilya Ilyin

Beijing 2008 & London 2012
The Kazakhstan weightlifter Ilyin was considered one of the best to raise a heavy barbell on the world stage. He racked up several competition wins and smashed world records along the way. As such, it’s no surprise Ilyin took gold at Beijing 2008 in the 94-kilogram and repeated the feat at London 2012, setting more records as he went. However, in 2016, the International Weightlifting Federation retested their 4-time World Weightlifter of the Year’s sample from 2012. It was discovered that Ilyin tested positive for 2 banned steroid substances. Shortly after, a reexamination of his 2008 sample also had steroids in it. Due to this, Ilyin had both Olympic golds taken back. Coincidentally, he hasn’t won a major competition since.

#3: Lance Armstrong

Sydney 2000
Cycling doesn’t typically get sporting superstars like those in other fields. But Armstrong was an exception. On top of winning the Tour de France 7 times in a row, he also collected a bronze medal in Sydney 2000 in the men's road time trial. However, in 2012, after being accused of doping throughout most of his career and later admitting to it, Armstrong’s career was wrecked. His records from 1998 onwards were wiped away, which included his bronze medal. (Xref) Armstrong’s former teammate, Tyler Hamilton, won gold at Athens 2004 in the same event. However, after the first sample tested positive and the backup sample was frozen, no offense could be confirmed. In 2011, Hamilton admitted to doping and was stripped of his gold.

#2: Ben Johnson

Seoul 1988
Coming into Seoul 1988, Johnson was one of the favorites to destroy the competition in the 100 meters. And the Canadian sprinter did just that by clocking in 9.79 seconds and smashing the world record. Days after taking the top spot, it was announced that Johnson’s sample had tested positive for steroids. He was disqualified from the race, and Carl Lewis was awarded the gold, who had also broken the world record. This event wasn’t dubbed “the dirtiest race in history” for no reason. Only 2 of the 8 men’s finalists weren’t found to have used banned substances in their careers. Johnson later admitted to using steroids to keep up with other athletes using substances.

#1: Marion Jones

Sydney 2000
Before Sydney 2000, Jones set a plan to take gold in each of her 5 events. Even with the distraction of her shot-putting husband, C.J. Hunter, failing doping tests, the USA’s athlete came close to achieving that but had to settle for a still impressive 3 golds and 2 bronzes in her track-and-field events. In 2004, as part of the BALCO scandal, Jones’s then-partner, Tim Montgomery, was banned for doping. This caused the spotlight to fall on Jones, who denied the accusations. However, in 2007, Jones admitted to lying to investigators and stated she’d used steroids in 2000. She was stripped of her Olympic medals and records since 2000. In 2008, Jones was sentenced to 6 months in jail for lying.

Do you believe any of these athletes were unfairly stripped of their medals? Let us know below!