AUSTIN, Texas -- Lance Armstrong has returned his Olympic bronze cycling medal, the latest fallout from his confession to using performance-enhancing drugs.
Stitched Panthers Jerseys . Armstrong won the medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The International Olympic Committee in January vacated the medal Armstrong won in the road time trial. Armstrong tweeted Thursday that he gave it back and a U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman released a statement confirming its return. Armstrongs tweet included a photo of the medal and its blue ribbon along with the message: "The 2000 Bronze is back in possession of (at)usolympics and will be in Switzerland asap." Mark Higgins, who has been a manager and spokesman for Armstrong for several years, gave the medal to USOC chief executive officer Scott Blackmun at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport on Thursday. Armstrong declined further comment. The IOC has said it will not reallocate Armstrongs bronze medal, just as cyclings 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. Armstrong denied doping for years until his confession in January in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The confession came after a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report detailed widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team. Armstrong also has been stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999-2005. The IOC previously stripped Tyler Hamilton, a former Armstrong teammate, of his time-trial gold medal from the 2004 Olympics after he acknowledged doping. Armstrong won his medal two months after winning his second Tour de France title. His U.S. Postal Service teammate, Vyacheslav Ekimov of Russia, won the gold and Jan Ullrich of Germany won silver. Ekimov was Armstrongs teammate during the time period in which USADA outlined widespread doping on the team. Ullrich, who was a chief rival of Armstrong and finished second to him in the Tour de France three times, confirmed in an interview with a German magazine in June that he used blood-doping treatments during his career. The IOC has not brought charges against either Ekimov or Ullrich.
Panthers Jerseys 2020 . Starters, when they struggle, have to live with it for five days. For Sergio Santos and Steve Delabar, two of the three men who authored one of the ugliest pitched innings in Blue Jays franchise history on Thursday night, the bounce-back chance came right away.
Panthers Jerseys China . One out away from finishing off an impressive shutout, they let a must-win game slip away.SHENZHEN, China -- Alvaro Quiros and Simon Dyson each shot a 5-under 67 to share the lead after the first round of the China Open on Thursday. The pair were a stroke ahead of a group of six golfers that included defending champion Brett Rumford of Australia and Alexander Levy of France, who briefly moved into a tie with Quiros and Dyson in the growing darkness on his back nine but bogeyed the par-3 8th hole before play was suspended. He has one hole remaining to play. Englands Ian Poulter was in a group of 12 golfers just behind at 3-under on a crowded leaderboard. Henrik Stenson, who has a chance to take over the top ranking from Tiger Woods with a win here, had a 71. The Swede, currently ranked third, has been battling the flu this week and didnt get in any practice time on the course at Genzon Golf Club before the opening round. "Im not throwing up but Im not too keen on eating and my energy levels arent the best," he said. "Its not easy to play a golf course blind, and it definitely costs a couple of shots when you havent seen it, or havent played it." Chinese 15-year-old Guan Tianlang, who became the youngest player to make the cut at the Masters last year, was level with Stenson at 71. "I think today I played pretty consistently. My putting feels good, but needs a couple changes so if tomorrow I got more birdies, will keep me going," he said. Quiros has six wins on the European Tour, but hasnt had a top-3 finish in the past three seasons. The Spaniard said hes worked on improving his putting this year and the results are starting to come -- he finished tied for fifth at the Joburg Open in February and then joint 13th last week at the Malaysian Open. "You cant see it yet on the rankings, but I have been playing better," said the Spaniard, ranked a lowly 240th in the world.
Florida Panthers Pro Shop. Dyson, who also has six wins on tour but none since 2011, said he played some of his best golf in a long time during his round, sinking six birdies to go with one bogey. "I really didnt miss a shot. I missed two fairways just, and didnt miss a green so gave myself a lot chances, which is always nice," he said. Stenson is coming off a banner year that saw him become the first golfer to win the European Tours Race to Dubai and the U.S. PGA Tours FedEx Cup in the same season. Hes gotten off to a slow start this season, however, with his best finish a tie for 14th at the Masters. According to the European Tour, Stenson can nudge Woods out of the top spot in the rankings this week only if wins the tournament and there are no withdrawals in the field to affect the maximum number of points hed receive. The Swede had back-to-back birdies on his first two holes, but then struggled to find the fairway and greens down the stretch, making four bogeys. He blamed the state of the rough for some "horrific lies." "I took a six on 13 by just being off the green -- you cant even get the ball hardly on the green to save par. I think its a course that when the rough gets that silly in certain areas, it kind of takes away a lot of skill," he said. Poulter is also looking for a boost, which he typically gets in Asia. Hes won three titles here, including the 2012 HSBC Champions at Mission Hills in Shenzhen. He had four birdies and narrowly missed a couple others, including a 6-footer on the 9th that would have moved him into a share of the lead. "Coming from Augusta National, where (the greens) are quite quick, you come here and the greens are very slow," he said. "Even the putts that look downhill, down grain, are just not very quick and it takes some adjusting to." ' ' '