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Hungarian hammer thrower Annus will not return gold
"I will not give back the medal, I regard myself as an Olympic champion," Annus said in his home town of Szombathely.
Hungarian hammer thrower Adrian Annus is refusing to give back his Olympic gold medal after being stripped of his title for failing to take a drugs test.
"I will not give back the medal, I regard myself as an Olympic champion," Annus was quoted as saying by Hungarian state news agency MTI in his home town of Szombathely on Tuesday.
Annus was disqualified from the event after he did not meet an International Olympic Committee (IOC) deadline on last Friday to submit a urine sample. Japan's Koji Murofushi was awarded the gold medal.
The 31-year-old Hungarian was dope tested twice during the Athens Games, including after his victory in the hammer competition on August 22.
Both tests were negative but the IOC called for another out-of-competition test because of suspicions that he may have used a contraption to dupe testers.
The IOC said on Sunday that "an analysis of the two urine samples provided during the period of the Games showed evidence of belonging to two different athletes, indicating possible tampering". The IOC plans to investigate further.
Annus, who announced his retirement after winning the gold medal, said on Tuesday he had been contacted by lawyers offering to represent him in any legal case he might bring, but that he had not yet decided on whether he would take that course.
He shared a coach with Hungary's discus thrower Robert Fazekas, who was expelled from the Games and stripped of his gold medal for refusing to provide a complete urine sample following the final.
