Michael Johnson is a former world record holder in the 200 meter and the 400 meter sprints, and until recently he had 5 Olympic Gold medals.
Now, however, he only has 4 Olympic Gold Medals.
How did he lose a medal? Was it because he was caught cheating? Was he found to have cut a corner, or did he take performance enhancing drugs? No, of course not, Michael Johnson has always been a stand up guy.
Michael Johnson didn't cheat, but his teammates did, and so he gave up one of his Olympic medals by voluntarily returning it now that he knows it wasn't not achieved legally.
In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 3 of the 4 runners on the 1600m relay were coached by Trevor Graham.
In one of Graham's trials, Antonio Pettigrew admitted to receiving performance enhancing drugs from Graham.
This means that Michael Johnson was the only clean athlete on the relay team.
Johnson said he is "deeply disappointed in Antonio and in the sport of athletics.
I now realize that there have been a significant number of athletes and coaches in this sport who have cheated and taken the short cut, and many of them knew who else was cheating.
But now, I feel that I have been naive.
I know the medal was not fairly won and that it is dirty, and so I have moved it from the location where I have always kept my medals because it doesn't belong there.
And it doesn't belong to me.
" This has to be quite the blow for Johnson, and I'm sorry that he has to give up his medal.
However, he did the right thing by returning the medal and it's just further proof that he has an exceptional character that is rare.
Michael Johnson will be able to look back on his career with pride and know that he was able to do what very few people could ever achieve, because even after returning his medal he still has more gold medals than most Olympic athletes who never acquire any medal, be it bronze, silver or gold.
And while records are made to be broken, he did own a few very impressive ones for a long time as well.
I hope that his returning the medal serves as a good example for the next generation of athletes and that they not only stay clean but also act with integrity and honor in all circumstances, whether it involves illegal drugs or not.