USA men's relay team to return London 2012 silver medals after Tyson Gay suspension

The United States Olympic Committee has announced that it will return the silver medals won by the men's 4x100m relay team at London 2012 after confirming the IOC's decision to disqualify them from the event.

Trell Kimmons, Justin Gaitlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey finished second to Jamaica and ahead of third-pace Trinidad and Tobago in a time of 37.04 yet Gay returned his medal earlier in May after he was handed a reduced one-year suspension for testing positive for banned anabolic steroids in 2013.

While his compatriots were not implicated in the affair, current rules mean that a whole team can be disqualified if one member fails a test and the decision to do so has now been taken by the relevant authorities.

"As expected, following USADA's decision in the Tyson Gay case, the IOC today confirmed that the US team has been disqualified from the 4x100-meter race that was part of the athletics competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games," USOC chief communications officer Patrick Sandusky said in a press release.

"We will begin efforts to have the medals returned, and support all measures to protect clean athletes."

The decision to ban Gay, the second fastest 100m runner of all time, for only 12 months as a result of his cooperation with the United States Anti-Doping Agency was met with a furious reaction by some in athletics, with six-time Olympic champion and rival Usain Bolt stating that he believed such leniency sends out the wrong message.