Tyler Hamilton, an American cyclist who accused former teammate Lance Armstrong of taking performance-enhancing drugs, turned in his 2004 Olympics gold medal to the United States Anti-Doping Agency. 
 
 Hamilton, 40, tested positive for blood doping at the 2004 games in Athens and was allowed to keep the medal in the individual time-trial event because no back-up test could be done. He returned the medal to the USADA, the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based agency said today in an e-mailed statement. 
 
 “USADA continues its ongoing investigation into the sport of cycling,” the agency said in the release. “Where there is credible evidence of doping, a fair and thorough process exists for resolving such violations.” 
 
 Chris Manderson, Hamilton’s lawyer, said in a telephone interview that the cyclist voluntarily delivered the medal to USADA last week because he did not want it to be a distraction from his recent admission to doping or his comments about Armstrong in a “60 Minutes” television interview. 
 
 “Tyler didn’t want to hand it in for any reason other than he knew people were going to make a stink about it,” Manderson said. 
 
 Hamilton and Armstrong were teammates on the U.S. Postal Service team in 1999, 2000 and 2001. In an interview with “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley, airing on CBS on May 22, Hamilton said Armstrong used erythropoietin, or EPO, during the first of his seven Tour de France victories in 1999, and again to prepare for the race in 2000 and 2001. 
 
 Hamilton, who was suspended in 2005 and 2009 for doping, said he saw EPO in Armstrong’s refrigerator, and witnessed Armstrong inject himself with the drug multiple times. EPO boosts the number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells and improves stamina. 
 
 Armstrong denied the accusation through his spokesman, Mark Fabiani. 
 
 “Hamilton is actively seeking to make money by writing a book, and now he has completely changed the story he has always told before so that he could get himself on ‘60 Minutes’ and increase his chances with publishers,” Fabiani said in an e- mailed statement. The spokesman noted that Armstrong has taken and passed more than 500 doping tests over 20 years of competitions. 
 
 USADA, which said it does not comment on the details of active investigations, said it is working with the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic Committee as appropriate “concerning the final implications of our overall investigation.” 
 
 To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net 

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 The American cyclist Tyler Hamilton, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the time trial, has voluntarily surrendered his gold medal to the United States Anti-Doping Agency after admitting to doping during his cycling career, the International Olympic Committee said Friday. 
 
 “The I.O.C. has been in touch with Usada, which indicated that the athlete has already rendered his gold medal — Athens 2004 time-trial race — and that they are currently pursuing an inquiry,” Emmanuelle Moreau, a spokeswoman for the I.O.C., wrote in an e-mail. “The I.O.C. has taken note of Hamilton’s confession and will, of course, study any potential Games-related implications.” 
 
 Usada confirmed in a statement Friday that Hamilton had returned the medal and said, “We will continue to work with the I.O.C. and the U.S.O.C. as appropriate concerning the final implications of our overall investigation.” 
 
 Hamilton, 40, was a teammate of Lance Armstrong’s on the United States Postal Service team, and helped Armstrong win the Tours in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Armstrong won seven consecutive Tours from 1999 to 2005. 
 
 On Thursday, in a report on the “CBS Evening News,” Hamilton said he had seen Armstrong inject himself with the banned performance-enhancing drug EPO to win those Tours. A full interview with Hamilton will be broadcast Sunday on “60 Minutes” on CBS. 
 
 “I saw him inject it more than one time,” Hamilton said. “Yeah, like we all did. Like I did many, many times.” 
 
 Hamilton, who has been sanctioned twice for doping, is the latest teammate to say he witnessed Armstrong’s use of performance-enhancing drugs. One year ago, Floyd Landis — who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping — shook the world of cycling by saying he and Armstrong were part of a systematic doping scheme while racing for the Postal Service team. 
 
 Armstrong, who retired from competitive cycling this year, is the focus of a federal investigation into doping in cycling. The inquiry aims to prove that Armstrong and his associates committed fraud against the government, among other crimes. No indictment has been announced, but people with knowledge of the investigation, who are not authorized to speak publicly about it, say Armstrong may be facing charges of fraud, money laundering, corruption, drug trafficking and wire fraud. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has been investigating the matter since last summer. 
 
 After Hamilton’s admission became public on Thursday, Armstrong posted on Twitter an early and perhaps presumptive congratulatory note to his former teammate Viatcheslav Ekimov for being elevated to gold medalist from silver medalist in the 2004 Olympic time trial. 
 
 “Congratulations to @eki_ekimov on his 3rd Olympic Gold Medal!!” Armstrong wrote. 
 
 The Russian Olympic Committee appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2006, asking the court to strip Hamilton of his medal and award it to Ekimov, but its request was denied. 
 
 In this case, the silver medal would go to the American Bobby Julich and the bronze to the Australian Michael Rogers, the world champion from 2003 to 2005. 
 
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 An initial blood sample submitted by Hamilton to the I.O.C. after the Olympic time trial tested positive for a banned blood transfusion, but the I.O.C. lab mishandled the backup sample and could not verify the initial positive test. 
 
 A month later, though, Hamilton tested positive for a blood transfusion during the Vuelta a España. Although he vehemently denied ever doping, he was subsequently banned from the sport for two years. Hamilton, now a cycling coach in Colorado, is serving an eight-year ban from the sport after testing positive for the banned substance DHEA, which he said he ingested because it was in a herbal supplement he was taking to battle depression. 
 
 Mark Fabiani, Armstrong’s spokesman, said in a statement Thursday that Hamilton’s accusations were not to be believed because Hamilton was not credible. 
 
 Fabiani said the Web site Facts4Lance.com would have “clear proof that the on-camera ‘60 Minutes’ interviewees are just not credible.” 
 
 He also said in a statement that Hamilton should not be believed because he “is actively seeking to make money by writing a book, and now he has completely changed the story he has always told before so that he could get himself on ‘60 Minutes’ and increase his chances with publishers.”
– Congratulations, Viatcheslav Ekimov of Russia. It looks like you've won the gold medal in cycling at the 2004 Olympics. The US cyclist originally awarded the medal, Tyler Hamilton, surrendered it last week and has admitted to doping, reports Bloomberg. Hamilton also is making headlines by accusing former Tour de France teammate Lance Armstrong of doping as well. Armstrong, who previously had been accused by teammate Floyd Landis, continues to deny the allegations. If he's proven to be a liar, it's more than just a matter of handing in old trophies, notes the New York Times. Under a case now being investigated by a federal grand jury, he could face charges of fraud, money laundering, corruption, and drug trafficking.