Aussie swimmers to keep Olympic medals after doping case dropped

The six Australian swimmers who won medley relay bronze at the 2012 London Olympics will all keep their medals after a doping case was finally dropped.

A doping case against Brenton Rickard (R) from the London Games has finally been dropped. Picture: Alex Coppel

The six Australian swimmers who finished third in the medley relay at the 2012 London Olympics will all keep their bronze medals after the drawn out case against Brenton Rickard’s adverse drugs finding was officially dropped.

The entire team risked being disqualified and stripped of their prizes after one of Rickard’s samples was retested eight years later in 2020 and reportedly showed a tiny concentration of furosemide, a banned diuretic that can be used as a masking agent for other drugs.

A former world breaststroke champion, Rickard always denied any wrongdoing and he has finally been cleared after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) dropped the charges.

A doping case against Brenton Rickard (R) from the London Games has finally been dropped. Picture: Alex Coppel

“The outcome today is the best I could have possibly hoped for,” Rickard said.

“Through these proceedings the IOC sought to challenge my honesty, integrity and values.

“I am filled with relief to be vindicated today.”

The decision will come not only as a major relief to Rickard but also his teammates on the 4x100m medley relay and the Australian Olympic Committee, which has never had an athlete stripped of a medal for doping.

Under anti-doping’s strict rules, athletes are deemed to be responsible for whatever goes into their bodies so often receive heavy penalties even when they ingest banned substances unknowingly.

Although Rickard only swam in the heats and not the final, if he had been found guilty, the whole team would likely have been disqualified, meaning James Magnussen, Matt Targett, Christian Sprenger, Hayden Stoeckel and Tomasso D’Orsogna would also have lost their medals for that race.

Immediately after he was notified about the adverse finding, Rickard privately contacted each of his teammates to declare his innocence, even though he was not under any obligation to tell anyone he was being investigated.

He told them that he thought he may have accidentally ingested the banned substance by taking medication he bought over the counter in London and would fight the charge.

News Corp understands that the case against Rickard was dropped more than two months ago but he was only formally told this week that it was all over, prompting his high-profile lawyer, Rebekah Giles to question the time it took for the case to be resolved.

“WADA’s rule change is pleasing but has come 16 months too late for Brenton, who has suffered greatly,” she said.

“The system operated unfairly against him and he was profoundly affected by these proceedings. His bravery was ultimately rewarded by the withdrawal of IOC’s case against him.”

Originally published as Aussie swimmers to keep Olympic medals after doping case dropped