Mick Rogers to be presented with Olympic bronze medal 11 years after event

Australian initially placed fourth in the individual time trial at Athens 2004, but was pushed up to third after Tyler Hamilton admitted to doping

Michael Rogers at the 2014 Tour de France (Sunada)

(Image credit: Yuzuru SUNADA)

Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) is due to be presented with an Olympic bronze medal on Tuesday night at the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, 11 years after finishing fourth in the individual time trial at the 20o4 Olympics.

The Australian, then 24-years-old, had missed out on a podium place by three seconds to American Bobby Julich and 30 seconds behind original victor Tyler Hamilton.

But after Hamilton admitted to doping throughout his career in 2011 in the wake of the USADA investigation into Lance Armstrong and his US Postal team and the American was stripped of his title in 2012, Rogers was boosted up to third in the standings and second placed Russian rider (and Hamilton's US Postal teammate) Viatcheslav Ekimov into first.

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Hamilton had initially tested positive for blood doping after the Olympic time trial, but a frozen back-up sample meant that a follow up B sample test couldn't be conducted and he was allowed to keep his gold medal.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) then appealed to the IOC for the reallocation of medals after Hamilton's admission, and now 11 years after Rogers will be presented with medal by AOC president John Coates in Tuesday's special ceremony.

Rogers, who lives in Switzerland, said “it was certainly a special moment when I awoke and read the news that I was receiving the medal. It will be honour to receive the medal from Mr Coates”.

The 35-year-old Tinkoff rider now adds the bronze to his two world time trial titles, while he also counts a national title and a Commonwealth silver medal in the individual time trial on his palmarés.

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Richard Windsor

Follow on Twitter: @richwindy


Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.


An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).