List of stripped Olympic medals

The following is a list of stripped Olympic medals. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the governing body that can rule when athletes are in violation of rules in the Olympic Games. The IOC can strip athletes' Olympic honors and request the return of medals. In the case of team events, the IOC can strip medals from a team based on infractions by a single team member. In the table below, for stripped team medals, the athlete in violation is shown in parentheses. The international governing body of each Olympic sport can also strip athletes of medals for infractions of the rules of the sport.

Since 1968, a total of 117 medals have been stripped. The vast majority of these incidences have occurred since 2000, due to improved drug testing methods. More medals have been stripped in weightlifting (41) than any other sport. The country which has had the most medals stripped from it is Russia (30).

All but a few of the stripped medals involve infractions stemming from doping and drug testing. Jim Thorpe was stripped of his two 1912 gold medals based on evidence he had participated in professional sports; Thorpe's medals were restored in 1982, 29 years after his death, and presented to his children. Ibragim Samadov of the 1992 Unified Team was stripped of his bronze medal after he "hurled his bronze medal to the floor" and "stormed off the stage during the awards ceremony."[1] Ara Abrahamian was stripped of his bronze medal in 2008 for similar reasons.[2] China was stripped of a team gymnastics bronze medal from 2000 in 2010 after a team member was found to be underage at the time of the competition.

In a few cases the IOC has reversed earlier rulings that stripped athletes of medals. In the case of Rick DeMont, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) recognized his gold medal performance in the 1972 Summer Olympics in 2001,[3] but only the IOC has the power to restore his medal, and it has so far refused to do so.[3]

List of stripped Olympic medals

This is the list of Olympic medals stripped by the IOC, the governing body of the Olympics.

Olympics Athlete Country Medal Event Ref
1968 Summer Olympics Pentathlon team (Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall)  Sweden Bronze Modern pentathlon, Team [4]
1972 Summer Olympics Bakhaavaa Buidaa  Mongolia Silver Judo, Men's 63 kg [5]
Cycling team (Aad van den Hoek)  Netherlands Bronze Cycling, Men's team time trial [6]
Jaime Huélamo  Spain Bronze Cycling, Men's individual road race [6]
Rick DeMont  United States Gold Swimming, Men's 400 m freestyle [3]
1976 Winter Olympics Galina Kulakova  Soviet Union Bronze Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 5 km [7]
1976 Summer Olympics Valentin Khristov  Bulgaria Gold Weightlifting, Men's 110 kg [8]
Blagoy Blagoev Silver Weightlifting, Men's 82.5 kg [9]
Zbigniew Kaczmarek  Poland Gold Weightlifting, Men's 67.5 kg [10]
1984 Summer Olympics Martti Vainio  Finland Silver Athletics, Men's 10,000 m [11]
Tomas Johansson  Sweden Silver Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman +100 kg [12]
1988 Summer Olympics Ben Johnson  Canada Gold Athletics, Men's 100 m [13]
Mitko Grablev  Bulgaria Gold Weightlifting, Men's 56 kg [14]
Angell Guenchev Gold Weightlifting, Men's 67.5 kg [14]
Andor Szanyi  Hungary Silver Weightlifting, Men's 100 kg [15]
1992 Summer Olympics Ibragim Samadov  Unified Team Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 82.5 kg [16]
2000 Summer Olympics Ashot Danielyan  Armenia Bronze Weightlifting, Men's +105 kg [17]
Izabela Dragneva  Bulgaria Gold Weightlifting, Women's 48 kg [18]
Ivan Ivanov Silver Weightlifting, Men's 56 kg [18]
Sevdalin Minchev Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 62 kg [18]
Gymnastics team (Dong Fangxiao)  China Bronze Gymnastics, Women's artistic team all-around [19]
Alexander Leipold  Germany Gold Wrestling, Men's freestyle 76 kg [20]
Andreea Răducan  Romania Gold Gymnastics, Women's artistic individual all-around [21]
Marion Jones  United States Gold Athletics, Women's 100 m [22]
Gold Athletics, Women's 200 m
Gold Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m relay
Bronze Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m relay
Bronze Athletics, Women's long jump
Relay team
(Antonio Pettigrew, Jerome Young)		 Gold Athletics, Men's 4 × 400 m relay [23][24]
Lance Armstrong Bronze Cycling, Men's road time trial [25]
2002 Winter Olympics Olga Danilova  Russia Gold Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 5 km + 5 km combined pursuit [26]
Silver Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 10 km classical [26]
Larisa Lazutina Gold Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 30 km classical [26][27]
Silver Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 15 km freestyle [28]
Silver Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 5 km + 5 km combined pursuit [28]
Johann Mühlegg  Spain Gold Cross-Country Skiing, Men's 50 km classical [26]
Gold Cross-Country Skiing, Men's 30 km freestyle [29]
Gold Cross-Country Skiing, Men's 10 km + 10 km combined pursuit [29]
Alain Baxter  United Kingdom Bronze Alpine Skiing, Men's slalom [30]
2004 Summer Olympics Ivan Tsikhan  Belarus Silver Athletics, Men's hammer throw [31]
Iryna Yatchenko Bronze Athletics, Women's discus throw [31]
Equestrian team[nb 1]
(Goldfever horse; Ludger Beerbaum rider)		  Germany Gold Equestrian, Team show jumping [32]
Leonidas Sabanis  Greece Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 62 kg [33]
Adrián Annus  Hungary Gold Athletics, Men's hammer throw [34]
Róbert Fazekas Gold Athletics, Men's discus throw [35]
Ferenc Gyurkovics Silver Weightlifting, Men's 105 kg [36]
Waterford Crystal (horse; Cian O'Connor rider)  Ireland Gold Equestrian, Individual show jumping [37]
Irina Korzhanenko  Russia Gold Athletics, Women's shot put [38]
Svetlana Krivelyova Bronze Athletics, Women's shot put [31]
Oleg Perepetchenov Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 77 kg [39]
Yuriy Bilonoh  Ukraine Gold Athletics, Men's shot put [31]
Rowing team (Olena Olefirenko) Bronze Rowing, Women's quadruple sculls [40]
Crystal Cox  United States Gold Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m relay [41]
Tyler Hamilton Gold Cycling, Men's road time trial [42]
2006 Winter Olympics Olga Medvedtseva  Russia Silver Biathlon, Women's individual [43]
2008 Summer Olympics Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan  Armenia Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 69 kg [44]
Vitaliy Rahimov  Azerbaijan Silver Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman 60 kg [45]
Rashid Ramzi  Bahrain Gold Athletics, Men's 1500 m [46]
Aksana Miankova  Belarus Gold Athletics, Women's hammer throw [47]
Natallia Mikhnevich Silver Athletics, Women's shot put [47]
Andrei Mikhnevich Bronze Athletics, Men's shot put [48]
Andrei Rybakou Silver Weightlifting, Men's 85 kg [49]
Nastassia Novikava Bronze Weightlifting, Women's 53 kg [49]
Yarelys Barrios  Cuba Silver Athletics, Women's discus throw [50]
Hrysopiyi Devetzi  Greece Bronze Athletics, Women's triple jump [45]
Davide Rebellin  Italy Silver Cycling, Men's road race [51]
Ilya Ilyin  Kazakhstan Gold Weightlifting, Men's 94 kg [47]
Irina Nekrassova Silver Weightlifting, Women's 63 kg [45]
Mariya Grabovetskaya Bronze Weightlifting, Women's +75 kg [45]
Taimuraz Tigiyev Silver Wrestling, Men's freestyle 96 kg [49]
Asset Mambetov Bronze Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman 96 kg [45]
Kim Jong-su  North Korea Bronze Shooting, Men's 10 m air pistol [52][53]
Silver Shooting, Men's 50 m air pistol [52]
Equestrian team[nb 2]
(Camiro horse; Tony André Hansen rider)		  Norway Bronze Equestrian, team show jumping [54]
Relay team (Yuliya Chermoshanskaya)  Russia Gold Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m relay [55]
Relay team
(Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Tatyana Firova)		 Silver Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m relay [44]
Maria Abakumova Silver Athletics, Women's javelin throw [56]
Relay team (Denis Alexeev) Bronze Athletics, Men's 4 × 400 m relay [56]
Yekaterina Volkova Bronze Athletics, Women's 3000 m steeplechase [49]
Anna Chicherova Bronze Athletics, Women's high jump [57]
Khadzhimurat Akkayev Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 94 kg [45]
Dmitry Lapikov Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 105 kg [45]
Marina Shainova Silver Weightlifting, Women's 58 kg [44]
Nadezhda Evstyukhina Bronze Weightlifting, Women's 75 kg [44]
Khasan Baroyev Silver Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman 120 kg [45]
Ara Abrahamian  Sweden Bronze Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman 84 kg [58]
Sibel Özkan  Turkey Silver Weightlifting, Women's 48 kg [59]
Lyudmyla Blonska  Ukraine Silver Athletics, Women's heptathlon [60]
Denys Yurchenko Bronze Athletics, Men's pole vault [45]
Nataliya Davydova Bronze Weightlifting, Women's 69 kg [45]
Olha Korobka Silver Weightlifting, Women's +75 kg [49]
Soslan Tigiev  Uzbekistan Silver Wrestling, Men's freestyle 74 kg [49]
2012 Summer Olympics Hripsime Khurshudyan  Armenia Bronze Weightlifting, Women's +75 kg [61]
Nadzeya Ostapchuk  Belarus Gold Athletics, Women's shot put [62]
Maryna Shkermankova Bronze Weightlifting, Women's 69 kg [63]
Iryna Kulesha Bronze Weightlifting, Women's 75 kg [61]
Zulfiya Chinshanlo  Kazakhstan Gold Weightlifting, Women's 53 kg [63]
Maiya Maneza Gold Weightlifting, Women's 63 kg [63]
Svetlana Podobedova Gold Weightlifting, Women's 75 kg [63]
Ilya Ilyin Gold Weightlifting, Men's 94 kg [47]
Anatolie Cîrîcu  Moldova Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 94 kg [61]
Cristina Iovu Bronze Weightlifting, Women's 53 kg [61]
Tatyana Lysenko  Russia Gold Athletics, Women's hammer throw [64]
Yuliya Zaripova Gold Athletics, Women's 3000 m steeplechase [65][61]
Sergey Kirdyapkin Gold Athletics, Men's 50 km walk [66]
Tatyana Chernova Bronze Athletics, Women's heptathlon [67]
Darya Pishchalnikova Silver Athletics, Women's discus throw [68]
Yevgeniya Kolodko Silver Athletics, Women's shot put [69]
Olga Kaniskina Silver Athletics, Women's 20 km walk [70]
Apti Aukhadov Silver Weightlifting, Men's 85 kg [71]
Aleksandr Ivanov Silver Weightlifting, Men's 94 kg [61]
Natalia Zabolotnaya Silver Weightlifting, Women's 75 kg [61]
Asli Cakir Alptekin  Turkey Gold Athletics, Women's 1500 m [72]
Relay team (Tyson Gay)  United States Silver Athletics, Men's 4 × 100 m relay [73]
Oleksandr Pyatnytsya  Ukraine Silver Athletics, Men's javelin throw [74]
Yuliya Kalina Bronze Weightlifting, Women's 58 kg [75]
Soslan Tigiev  Uzbekistan Bronze Wrestling, Men's freestyle 74 kg [76]
2016 Summer Olympics Izzat Artykov  Kyrgyzstan Bronze Weightlifting, Men's 69 kg [77]

Notes:

  1. ↑ The Germany team was not disqualified, but with Beerbaum's score excluded, it dropped from gold medalist to bronze medalist.
  2. ↑ The Norwegian team was not disqualified, but with Hansen's score excluded, it dropped from bronze medalist to tenth.

List of Olympic medals stripped and later returned

Here is the list of Olympic medals that were stripped by the IOC and later returned by the IOC.

Olympics Athlete Country Medal Event Ref
1912 Summer Olympics Jim Thorpe  United States Gold Athletics, Men's pentathlon [78]
Gold Athletics, Men's decathlon [78]
1952 Summer Olympics Ingemar Johansson  Sweden Silver Boxing, Men's Heavyweight [79]
1964 Winter Olympics Marika Kilius, Hans-Jürgen Bäumler Germany Silver Figure skating, Pairs [80]
1998 Winter Olympics Ross Rebagliati  Canada Gold Snowboarding, Men's giant slalom [81]
2000 Summer Olympics Relay team (except Marion Jones)  United States Bronze Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m relay [82]
Gold Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m relay [82]
2004 Summer Olympics María Luisa Calle  Colombia Bronze Cycling, Women's points race [83]
2008 Summer Olympics Vadim Devyatovskiy  Belarus Silver Athletics, Men's hammer throw [84]
Ivan Tsikhan Bronze Athletics, Men's hammer throw [84]
2014 Winter Olympics Nicklas Bäckström  Sweden Silver Ice hockey, Men's tournament [85]

Stripped, returned, and stripped

Six gold medals for the 2000 Olympic men's 4 × 400 metres relay were awarded to the U.S. squad of Jerome Young, Michael Johnson, Antonio Pettigrew, Angelo Taylor, Alvin Harrison and Calvin Harrison. In 2004, after Young was retroactively banned from 1999 to 2001, all six were stripped of their medals.

In 2005, the Court of Arbitration for Sport restored the medals of the remaining five, but in 2008, Pettigrew admitted to the use of HGH and EPO from 1997 to 2003, meaning that the team were disqualified, but it was not until 2012 that the medals were stripped from the remaining four.[82]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bondy, Filip (August 3, 1992). "BARCELONA: Weight Lifting; Medalist's Ban Is A Tangled Tale". New York Times.
  2. ↑ Longman, Jere (August 17, 2008). "Swede Stripped of His Medal After His Angry Reaction". New York Times.
  3. 1 2 3 Associated Press (January 30, 2001). "Better late than never". sportsillustrated.cnn.com.
  4. ↑ The Olympics Most Wanted by Floyd Conner. 2001.
  5. ↑ Black Belt magazine January 1973
  6. 1 2 Historical Dictionary of Cycling By Bill Mallon, Jeroen Heijmans. Scarecrow Press. 2011. p. xxiv
  7. ↑ Temple, Wick. "Russian star stripped of medal after use of drug". The Day. February 9, 1976.
  8. ↑ entry at Sports Reference
  9. ↑ entry at Sports Reference
  10. ↑ entry at Sports Reference
  11. ↑ "SPORTS PEOPLE; Finn Admits Drug Use". The New York Times. July 10, 1985.
  12. ↑ Associated Press (August 6, 1984). "Swede Loses Silver For Using Steroids". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ "1988: Johnson stripped of Olympic gold". BBC News. September 27, 1988.
  14. 1 2 Johnson, William Oscar; Moore, Kenny (October 3, 1988). "The Loser". Sports Illustrated.
  15. ↑ "THE SEOUL OLYMPICS; Weight Lifter Used Drug". The New York Times. September 29, 1988.
  16. ↑ Bondy, Filip (August 3, 1992). "BARCELONA: Weight Lifting; Medalist's Ban Is A Tangled Tale". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ CNNSI.com (September 30, 2000). "More busts". CNN.
  18. 1 2 3 "Bulgarian lifters sent home". BBC News. September 22, 2000.
  19. ↑ "China 'pained' by loss of medal". BBC News. April 29, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Wrestler Leipold given ban". BBC News. November 3, 2000.
  21. ↑ "PLUS: GYMNASTICS; Romanian Loses Gold-Medal Appeal". The New York Times. December 13, 2000.
  22. ↑ Associated Press (December 12, 2007). "IOC strips Jones of all 5 Olympic medals". MSNBC.com.
  23. ↑ Associated Press (August 2, 2008). "IOC Strips Gold Medals From 2000 Olympics U.S. Relay Team". Fox News.
  24. ↑ Associated Press (October 27, 2005). "Sprinter Jerome Young stripped of gold medal". USAToday.com.
  25. ↑ "Lance Armstrong stripped of Sydney Olympics medal". January 17, 2013.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Associated Press (February 24, 2002). "Muehlegg, Lazutina test positive, stripped of golds". ESPN.com.
  27. ↑ "Drugs test denies Lazutina gold". BBC News. February 24, 2002.
  28. 1 2 "Lazutina loses Olympic medals". BBC News. June 29, 2003.
  29. 1 2 "Danilova, Muehlegg stripped of Olympic golds". USA Today. December 18, 2003.
  30. ↑ Court of Arbitration for Sport decision
  31. 1 2 3 4 "Four Athens competitors stripped of medals". Al Jazeera. December 5, 2012.
  32. ↑ "Germany stripped of show jumping gold". CBC News. January 8, 2005.
  33. ↑ "Greek weightlifter stripped of bronze". The Guardian. London. August 22, 2004.
  34. ↑ "Hammer throw champ's gold taken". USA Today. August 29, 2004.
  35. ↑ Associated Press (August 24, 2004). "Gold medalist stripped after test tampering". ESPN.com.
  36. ↑ Associated Press (August 28, 2004). "Positive drug tests lead to another stripped medal, expulsion". USAToday.com.
  37. ↑ "O'Connor loses Olympic gold medal". RTÉ News. March 27, 2005.
  38. ↑ "Shot-put champion will lose gold". CNN. August 22, 2004.
  39. ↑ "Russian weightlifter, Oleg Perepetchenov, stripped of Athens bronze medal". Reuters. February 12, 2013.
  40. ↑ Associated Press (August 27, 2004). "Ukrainian rowers stripped of bronze for drug violation; Hungarian weightlifter expelled". The China Post.
  41. ↑ Associated Press (July 21, 2012). "Crystal Cox stripped of 2004 gold". ESPN.com.
  42. ↑ "US cyclist Tyler Hamilton stripped of Athens gold for doping". BBC. August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  43. ↑ Associated Press (February 16, 2006). "Russian Woman Stripped of Biathlon Medal". NBCSports.com.
  44. 1 2 3 4 "IOC sanctions six athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  45. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "IOC sanctions 16 athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  46. ↑ Wilson, Stephen (November 18, 2009). "Ramzi stripped of Olympic 1,500-meter gold medal". Associated Press.
  47. 1 2 3 4 "IOC sanctions seven athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008 and London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  48. ↑ "Medal received after six years". Reuters. August 22, 2014.
  49. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "IOC sanctions nine athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  50. ↑ https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-sanctions-two-athletes-for-failing-anti-doping-tests-at-beijing-2008
  51. ↑ Young, Chris (2009-11-19). "Young: Olympians lose medals after retroactive doping test". Toronto Star.
  52. 1 2 "Two more athletes fail dope tests". BBC Sport. August 15, 2008.
  53. ↑ Scott, Matt (August 15, 2008). "Olympics: Korean double medallist expelled for drug use". The Guardian.
  54. ↑ Norwegian stripped of Olympic equestrian bronze December 22, 2008. USA Today.
  55. ↑ https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-sanctions-yulia-chermoshanskaya-for-failing-anti-doping-test-at-beijing-2008
  56. 1 2 "IOC sanctions four athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008 and London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  57. ↑ https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-sanctions-anna-chicherova-for-failing-anti-doping-test-at-beijing-2008
  58. ↑ Longman, Jeré (August 17, 2008). "Swede Stripped of His Medal After His Angry Reaction". The New York Times.
  59. ↑ "IOC sanctions Turkish weightlifter for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008". IOC. July 22, 2016.
  60. ↑ Associated Press (August 22, 2008). "Ukrainian Blonska stripped of silver medal in heptathlon". ESPN.com.
  61. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "IOC sanctions 12 athletes for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  62. ↑ https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-withdraws-gold-medal-from-shot-put-athlete-nadzeya-ostapchuk
  63. 1 2 3 4 "IOC sanctions eight athletes for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  64. ↑ https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-sanctions-tatyana-lysenko-for-failing-anti-doping-test-at-london-2012
  65. ↑ "The decisions of the Lausanne (Switzerland) Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding the Russian Athletes". 2016-03-16.
  66. ↑ 50km walk men results – Athletics – London 2012 Olympics
  67. ↑ Sean, Ingle (November 29, 2016). "Jessica Ennis-Hill in line for 2011 gold as Chernova is stripped of world title". The Guardian.
  68. ↑ "Russia's Pishchalnikova given 10-year doping ban". Reuters. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2013-05-01.
  69. ↑ "IOC sanctions Evgeniia Kolodko for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". olympic.org. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  70. ↑ 20km walk women results – Athletics – London 2012 Olympics
  71. ↑ "IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  72. ↑ "Women's 2012 1500-Meter Olympic Champion Stripped of Gold Medal". Runner's World. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  73. ↑ "IOC strips U.S. of 2012 relay medal after Tyson Gay doping case". Espn. 2015-05-19. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  74. ↑ IOC sanctions four athletes for failing anti-doping tests
  75. ↑ IOC sanctions Ukrainian weightlifter Yulia Kalina for failing anti-doping test at London 2012
  76. ↑ "Doping-IOC strips Uzbek wrestler of Olympic bronze". Reuters. 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
  77. ↑ "Rio Olympics 2016: Izzat Artykov stripped of weightlifting bronze". BBC News. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  78. 1 2 "Jim Thorpe's Family Feud," The New York Times, February 7, 1983, Retrieved April 23, 2007.
  79. ↑ Ingemar Johansson: Boxer who beat Floyd Patterson to win the world heavyweight title February 3, 2009. The Independent
  80. ↑ Culture on Ice: Figure Skating & Cultural Meaning By Ellyn Kestnbaum. p. 77
  81. ↑ Clarey, Christopher (February 13, 1998). "Canadian Gets His Gold Medal Back". The New York Times. p. C2.
  82. 1 2 3 Associated Press (July 17, 2010). "Marion Jones' teammates win back stripped Olympic medals". USA Today.
  83. ↑ "IOC to return cyclist's Olympic medal". CBC Sports. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 27, 2005.
  84. 1 2 "Hammer blow repaired". The Times of London. 11 June 2010. p. 93.
  85. ↑ "IOC Decision - Swedish ice hockey player Nicklas Backstrom to receive Sochi silver medal.". IOC. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.