Six athletes failed drugs tests at Beijing Olympics, confirms IOC
The Bejing Olympics may be tarnished by drugs cheats
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Tuesday, 28, Apr 2009 10:00
Six athletes failed drugs tests at the Beijing Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) retested samples it received from the games.
The IOC confirmed that seven people, including six athletes, had tested positive for Cera, an advanced version of endurance-enhancing hormone EPO.
Olympic chiefs decided to retest the 948 samples from Beijing after new tests to catch Cera cheats became available after the Beijing games.
The names of the athletes who tested positive for Cera have yet to be revealed, although the Italian Olympic Committee has admitted that a male athlete from their country is one of the six to have failed the drugs test.
"The further analysis of the Beijing samples that we conducted should send a clear message that cheats can never assume that they have avoided detection," said Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC medical commission.
"The vast majority of athletes do not seek an unfair advantage. We intend to do all we can to ensure that they have a fair environment for competition."
The IOC will now continue to investigate the athletes who have been caught cheating and decide what punishment they will get.
Any athlete who is proven to have failed a drugs test is expected to get banned from ever competing from the Olympics again and will have to hand back any medals they won.