BEIJING, Aug.5 (Xinhua) -- Michael Johnson of the United States has handed back his 4x400 meters Sydney Olympics gold medal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after his then teammate Antonio Pettigrew confessed to doping, the IOC said here on Tuesday.

    "He sent a letter with a very good, very fair and very strong statement that he considers this medal unfairly won and before the IOC takes a decision he handed the medal back to the IOC," IOC vice president Thomas Bach told the ongoing 120th IOC session.

    The U.S. 4x400m relay team were stripped of their gold medals last week after Pettigrew admitted in May that he had used banned substances EPO (erythropoietin) and HGH (human growth hormone) from January 1997 until 2003.

    The IOC has yet to take a decision on the reallocation of the medals.