IOC Responds to Ullrich Admission

(ATR) The IOC says the admission from cycling Olympic champion Jan Ullrich that he used performance-enhancing drugs is ultimately a good thing, and his Olympic medals will likely remain in place.

Ullrich, who represented Germany, won the men’s road race event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the silver in that Games’ time trial. He told German news magazine Focus that he doped during his competitive career.

"Yes, I had access to treatment from Fuentes," he said in reference to the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who orchestrated a large-scale blood doping ring. Ullrich was initially linked to Fuentes when a sting operation uncovered the network but denied any wrongdoing.

When he retired in 2007, Ullrich maintained his innocence, saying he had never doped. In 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that he had used performance-enhancing drugs during his career.

"At that time, nearly everyone was using doping substances and I used nothing that the others were not using," he said in the June interview with the magazine.

A spokesperson for the IOC tells Around the Ringsthe "positive side" of Ullrich’s admission is that it will, in the end, lead to a more level playing field.

"The positive side to any such revelation is that it ultimately aids in the fight against doping as a line can begin to be drawn under previous practices," he said in an email to ATR.

"It is the IOC’s firm expectation that all parties involved will draw the necessary lessons from such cases and continue to take all measures to ensure a level playing field for all athletes."

He said any action on removing medals from Ullrich would be the decision of the International Cycling Union (UCI), World Anti-Doping Agency or German anti-doping agency.

For its part, the UCI says Ullrich was already punished for his offenses, and is unlikely to pursue further action against the cyclist.

When CAS ruled that Ullrich had doped, his results from 2005 and on were annulled.

"The UCI already has prosecuted Jan Ullrich based on its implication in the Puerto file and his contacts to Dr. Fuentes," a UCI spokesperson said.

"Nevertheless, the fact Ullrich admitted have already been judged and there is no further indication in his interview that would allow concluding doping practices before the period taken into account by CAS."

Should Ullrich’s medals be reallocated, it would be a source of major embarrassment for the Olympic Movement.

Lance Armstrong finished third in the time trial, but the IOC declined to reallocate his medal after he admitted to doping. If such a decision against Ullrich is ultimately made, the silver and bronze for that event would remain empty.

More troubling, in the road race, Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan finished second, but was later found guilty of a doping offense and served a two-year ban. The third and fourth place finishers were also linked to allegations of doping.

IOC rules establish an eight-year statute of limitations for doping cases, but that rule was waived after the Armstrong announcement.

The IOC spokesman declined to comment on those scenarios, saying it was "too early" to speculate on any decisions.

Ullrich was one of the most successful cyclists of his generation. He won Germany’s only Tour de France, doing so in 1997, and won the 1999 Vuelta a Espana. He was the "eternal second" to Lance Armstrong in the 2000s. He also competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the road race and time trial but failed to medal in both.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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