On the other hand wrote:
It was a different era, where men didn't throw hissy fits when they lost a race.
Shorter was the second man across the line, so he gets the silver medal. Why does it ever have to be more complicated than that?
Citius. Altius. Fortius.
That's it.
Ah, but Shorter DID have a "hissy fit" when the evidence about Cierpinski finally came out. Fourth place finisher Don Kardong wasn't happy either.
We pretend Lance Armstrong didn't win 7 Tours and an Olympic bronze medal when many other dopers keep theirs. You don't see the second place finishers claiming those Tour titles, but that's because they were all dopers too.
It is most certainly NOT a different era. It's been the same era since 1968, when we pretend all winners are clean until they're caught and then cry bloody murder.