Davide Rebellin shows off his Olympic silver medal in Beijing on
Aug. 9, 2008. The International Olympic Committee requested today that
Rebellin return his medal. AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, Files
After testing positive for a new generation of EPO called Cera, Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin has been ordered to return the Olympic silver medal he was awarded in Beijing. He must also return the roughly $112,000 prize money he was awarded. With Rebellin's disqualification, Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara will be awarded the silver medal for the men's road race, and Russian Alexandr Kolobnev now takes the bronze. The race's result has also been changed in the UCI ledger.
At the time of the Beijing Olympics, the Cera test had not been developed, and Rebellin flew under the Olympic committee's radar. However, when Rebellin won the Flèche Wallonne (a Belgian one-day classic) in April, his Flèche test sample showed trace amounts of Cera, and the Olympic committee re-tested Rebellin's Olympic sample. When initial results were revealed in April, Rebellin told the Italian newspaper La Stampa, "I don't know what may have happened. It is certainly a mistake. It is impossible that I tested positive." However, now that Rebellin's B sample has also given a positive result, the cyclist is silent. Rebellin is one of five cyclists who tested positive for Cera in retroactive testing of the Beijing samples.
The thirty-eight-year-old cyclist faces a two-year ban. However, considering his age, these doping allegations are likely to sound the death knell for Rebellin's career.
Rebellin's official test results were released on the same day as American cyclist Floyd Landis announced that he is terminating his contract with Team OUCH-Maxxis to return to the pro European grand tour circuit. Landis' name became synonymous with doping in 2006 when he became the first Tour de France winner to be stripped of his win for doping.
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