Editing Tyler Hamilton (section)

===Olympic gold and doping confession===
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in [[Athens]], Hamilton won the gold medal in the men's individual [[time trial]]. That medal was placed in doubt on September 20, 2004, after he failed a test for [[blood doping]] (receiving blood transfusions to boost performance) at the Olympics. Two days after the announcement of his positive test at Athens, the IOC announced Hamilton would keep his medal because results could not be obtained from the second sample. The Athens lab had frozen the backup, which made it impossible to repeat the test.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/4111071.stm Hamilton faces Greek drug probe], BBC on Monday, 20 December 2004.</ref> The [[Russia]]n Olympic Committee appealed to the International [[Court of Arbitration for Sport]] to give Hamilton's medal to Russian silver medalist [[Viatcheslav Ekimov]]. However, on June 27, 2006, the court rejected the request.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/athens/2006-06-27-hamilton-medal_x.htm CAS rejects Russian appeal to strip Tyler Hamilton of Olympic gold], USAToday.com on Tuesday, 27 June 2006.</ref>

In the [[Vuelta a España]], he won the stage 9 time trial on September 11, 2004, but left the race six days later, citing stomach problems. As winner of the stage, he was subjected to a doping test. He was told by the [[Union Cycliste Internationale]] (UCI) on September 13, 2004 that his two samples from two days earlier showed a "foreign blood population."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/3675726.stm Hamilton fails dope tests], BBC on September 21, 2004.</ref> After supporting Hamilton, Phonak team managers withdrew their support after a second member of the team, [[Santiago Pérez (cyclist)|Santiago Pérez]], was found positive for the same offense at the 2004 Vuelta a España.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/olympics/news/story?id=1934983 Hamilton third Phonak member dismissed for doping], ESPN on Tuesday, November 30, 2004.</ref>

The positive sample at the Olympics, and the positive test at the Vuelta were not the only indications that Hamilton was manipulating his [[hematocrit]] level. In April 2004 his blood was found to have a high ratio of hemoglobin to reticulocytes (young red blood cells), indicative of EPO or blood doping. His score was 132.9; a clean athlete would score 90.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2005/hamilton_appeal|title=Wire in the blood: Part I|publisher  =Cyclingnews.com |date=November 22, 2005}}</ref> The UCI suspends a rider if the score exceeds 133. This sample also showed someone else's blood was in his bloodstream. However, neither piece of evidence in isolation constituted a positive drug test (and the test for a mixed cell population had not yet been adopted), so no action was taken.<ref name=lancetolandis >{{ cite book
| title     = From Lance to Landis
| author    = David Walsh
| publisher = Ballantine Books
| year      = 2007
| pages     = 192–209 }} 
</ref>

On April 18, 2005 Hamilton was sanctioned by the [[United States Anti-Doping Agency]] and received a two-year suspension,<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SPORT/04/19/cycling.hamilton/ Hamilton given two-year doping ban], CNN on Tuesday, April 19, 2005.</ref> the maximum sentence for a first offense.

On May 18, 2005, he appealed to the [[Court of Arbitration for Sport]] but, after allowing Hamilton to gather evidence, the court dismissed his appeal.<ref>[http://www.tas-cas.org/ International Court for Arbitration in Sport, February 11, 2006 (See: Case Law)].</ref> Hamilton claimed the UCI-sanctioned test was insufficiently validated (and may have returned a [[Type I and type II errors|false positive]] result) and that some of the agencies involved had concealed documents that would support his case. He also maintained that, even if foreign cells were present, they were natural and not the result of a transfusion.

Hamilton was banned until September 22, 2006, two years from the date his "B" sample in the Vuelta a España was found positive.

In 2010, Hamilton was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury to testify in their doping investigation of Lance Armstrong. Hamilton admitted in his testimony that he took banned performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career.<ref>{{cite news|last=Macur|first=Juliet|title=Recording May Play Role in Armstrong Inquiry|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/sports/cycling/17armstrong.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 16, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Combs|first=Drew|title=Q&A: Cyclist Tyler Hamilton's Lawyer on Why His Client Came Clean|url=http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2011/05/mandersoninterview.html|newspaper=The Am Law Daily|date=May 22, 2011}}</ref>

On May 20, 2011, he also made the confession in an email to friends and family after a taping of the TV news show ''[[60 Minutes]]'', during which he also implicated Lance Armstrong in the doping scandal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tyler-hamiltons-letter-of-confession|title=Tyler Hamilton's letter of confession|work=Cyclingnews.com|date=May 20, 2011|access-date=February 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7366684n|title=Former teammate: I saw Lance Armstrong doping|work=Cbsnews.com|date=May 20, 2011|access-date=February 20, 2012}}</ref> Hamilton then voluntarily surrendered the gold medal he won at the 2004 Summer Olympics to the [[United States Anti-Doping Agency]], which said it would continue its joint investigative work with the IOC.<ref>[http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hamilton-gives-back-olympic-time-trial-gold-medal Hamilton gives back Olympic time trial gold medal]. Cyclingnews.com (2011-05-20). Retrieved on 2012-02-20.</ref>

On August 10, 2012, the IOC officially stripped Hamilton of his 2004 Olympic gold medal and ordered that it be returned to them.<ref>{{cite news|title=Olympic officials strip American cyclist of gold medal|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/11/sport/olympics-hamilton-doping/index.html?hpt=hp_t2|newspaper=CNN|date=August 12, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48584466/ns/sports-olympic_sports/|title=IOC to Strip Cyclist Hamilton of Athens Gold|date=August 9, 2012|access-date=August 9, 2012|first=Stephen|last=Wilson|agency=Associated Press|work=NBCSports.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812135645/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48584466/ns/sports-olympic_sports|archive-date=August 12, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>