As you've likely heard, Olympic sprinter Marion Jones admitted to taking steroids in October of this year. Subsequently, Jones was required to forfeit all of her Sydney medals and sentenced to 6 months in jail for lying in U.S. District Court.
In the case of Jones, the punishment is rather clear: you cheat, you pay. But there is a very interesting dilemma when you consider her relay teammates. Should they be allowed to keep there medals? You may argue that they haven't done anything wrong, which is quite true, but would they still have one the medals without Jones' illegal help?
"If they ask me to return it, I don't plan to return it. If it's my choice, my choice will be no. I know I have not taken anything that I should not be taking. It's very unfair."
"I'm not considering giving anything back. Especially, since no one has contacted me. If the IAAF or IOC contacts me, I still will not give it back. It's not fair to us who didn't do anything."
Their sentiments are understandable. I think the team's margin of victory should play into the decision. If you could hypothetically substitute the team's next best backup runner for Jones and they would still win, then I think they deserve to keep the medals. Of course that is very difficult to predict, and it will never be the reality, so it's a tough decision.