The International Olympic Committee (IOC) made the finding public and announcement of the loss of his Olympic title on December 5, 2012 but Nelson, the 2004 podium Olympic Silver medallist in the men's shot put, had to wait another six months to be get his gold medal and be officially crowned the 2004 Olympic Champion – nine years after the last shot put hit the dirt in the Athens competition.

Using banned performance enhancing drugs has to be the most common and publicised reason for results being changed.

There are, however, plenty of other reasons why results can be overturned, changed and athlete's performances can be annulled or disqualified and positions, rankings and medals be reassigned or not. And it can happen a few hours after the award ceremony or decades later after athletes have retired or even died.

There are rules in every sport, there has to be, and when rules are broken the outcome, the results can change. But rules are constantly changing, being modified, being thrown out and new rules come in. But it is not just athletes that might try to ignore, bend, or break the rules: coaches, organisations and even Governments can sometimes try to get in on the act.

But the people, aside from the athletes, that have the greatest influence on the outcome of a competition and have the most important role and responsibility in sport are the referees, judges, umpires and officials. They make sure we have safe, rule abiding competitions so things are fair on the sporting battlefield - a level playing field for all.

But rules can be manipulated, deliberately or unintentionally. A single call, judgment or decision can effect who wins in the end. It could be as obvious as disallowing a goal or something as seemingly insignificant as allowing an athlete more time to take their throw, giving one athlete a better lane draw then others, or calling someone offside when they weren't.

Ian Campbell missed out on the Moscow 1980 gold medal because of a dubious foul


One of the most famous and outrageous incidents, that I can recollect, of officials possibly misusing their roles happened in the men's triple jump in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. In the final, nine out of 12 jumps that could have challenged the Russian athletes were ruled fouls. But it was the jump by Australian Ian Campbell that was the jaw dropper. His longest hop, skip and jump exceeded the Olympic record only to be quickly red flagged by the Russian officials citing some obscure, and quite frankly ridiculous rule, that he dragged his non-jumping foot on the ground, which he clearly did not. Was this intentional manipulation by the officials to try to affect the outcome, gross incompetence or simply misunderstanding and misapplying a rule?

Competitions take place at a designated place, on a specific date and start at a set time but when do they finish, really finish? When is the result permanent, fixed, carved in stone, sealed and can never be changed? Ever? Can we ever really know who the true winner is? Is the best we can hope for is, this is the "Winner, for now"?

Changing results after a competition is over and rearranging the position of the finishers is not that uncommon. What is more unusual is having results and standings, points, positions and medals change and then later changing them back again to the original results.

In 1976 at the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix, Britain's James Hunt won the race, but was later disqualified for a rule violation. But after an appeal, Hunt's win and valuable points were reinstated and he went on to become the world champion that year.

If you go back even further in history, over a hundred years, there is another incident of musical podium chairs that one could argue has still not completely been resolved:

Jim Thorpe had his Stockholm 1912 gold medals taken away from him only for them to be returned years after his death


At the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics American Jim Thorpe won both the decathlon and the pentathlon by a stunning margin. He dominated the competition and won gold medals in both disciplines. His performance was so impressive that Sweden's King Gustaf V apparently told Thorpe when presenting him with his gold medals, "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world."

Unfortunately, months later, after an investigation, Thorpe was disqualified for breaking the rules - it was decided he was a professional and not an amateur athlete because he had received money for playing baseball, which was not allowed and against the Olympic rules at that time. So his amazing and historic Olympic performance was stricken from the record books and his titles and medals were taken away. His Olympic title and gold medals were then given to Hugo Wieslander for the decathlon and Ferdinand Reinhardt Bie for the pentathlon.

Fast forward to 1982, seven decades later and over a quarter of a century after Thorpe had died, and the IOC reversed their previous ruling and reinstated Thorpe as double Olympic champion. His medals and titles were returned to him because his disqualification had occurred long after the 30-day time period allowed by the IOC's own Olympic rules.

So finally, 70 years on, everything is sorted: Thorpe's incredible athletic Olympic accomplishment and dominance at the 1912 Olympics is officially recognised once more. He is the 1912 decathlon and pentathlon champion. But there is one small catch with his reinstatement - he now has to share the titles with the two other athletes - Wieslander in the decathlon and Bie in the pentathlon. Thorpe is now just a co-champion. Despite his overwhelming superiority in those competitions, the other athletes elevated positions remain in place.

Surprisingly, if you go to the IOC website, even now, and click on the photo of Thorpe it says this below the image "American athlete Jim Thorpe, the disqualified winner of the pentathlon and the decathlon at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games".

So Thorpe won two events, was then disqualified, then reinstated and is now a co-Olympic champion and is still identified by the IOC as "the disqualified winner". Maybe that hammer and chisel should be put down. Maybe, just maybe the results are still not completely final yet.

It is important that there be a clear and decisive winner in sports competition. Having a temporary and changing result is not good for the participants, spectators or for that matter sport. There must and should be a winner.

Hundreds of medals were doled out like candy at my nine-year-old daughter's
gymnastics competition recently


Winning and becoming a winner should be something we strive for even if we never get there. There should be a value to coming first because we can't all be winners, can we? Should we hand out medals to everyone that competes, as I witnessed at my nine-year-old daughter's gymnastics competition recently, where hundreds of medals were doled out like candy at Halloween. One podium ceremony had 22 places and 40+ medals awarded! Doesn't that diminish the value of winning, if everyone gets a medal?

On the other hand, what's the value in winning a competition if you have no opposition like in master's track and field? In some of the older age group categories in the 80s+, 90s+ and 100 year olds + there is sometimes just one competitor, even at a national or international level. Can you win something when you are the only competitor? Is that worth anything? In this instance I would have to step in and say a resounding yes. Having competed as a masters athlete myself for years and seen firsthand what some of these people can do in their twilight years is extraordinary. Just seeing a guy in his eighties or nineties standing on top of a podium is impressive enough let alone after running, jumping or throwing!

Just seeing a guy in his eighties or nineties standing on top of a podium is impressive enough let alone after running, jumping or throwing!


We have sport competitions to find out who are the fastest, strongest, most talented athletes and teams, who are the best competitors, who can rise to the challenge under pressure. It is a valuable life skill and in sport it is visible for all to see. We need to be able to identify the winners clearly and celebrate their accomplishments without any doubt, concerns or scepticism. When we look at the podium, we must know and be confident the people standing on top were the best competitors that day, period.

Winners should be celebrated and be able to enjoy their "spoils" whether its filling their bank accounts with prize money from competing and endorsement deals or just having the satisfaction of doing ones best and beating the opposition. We just need to make sure we identify a clear victor.

Roald Bradstock represented Britain in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and in 1996 was an alternate for the United States Olympic team. Bradstock competed in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 United States Olympic Trials. He has now switched his allegiance back to Britain. In addition to being an Olympic athlete, Bradstock is also an Olympic artist dubbed "The Olympic Picasso".