Russian Olympics athletes test positive

Eight Russians who competed in the 2012 London Olympics have tested positive for banned substances, Russia's Olympics Committee says.

Russia's Olympic Committee (ROC) said on Saturday that eight of its athletes from three different sports had tested positive for banned substances in a re-examination of samples taken during the 2012 London Olympics.

Russia's track and field athletes have been suspended since November due to suspicions of a systematic doping program and the latest positive tests are a major blow to the country's hopes of sending a full team to the Rio Olympics in August.

Doping scandals have plagued the build-up to this year's Games in Brazil.

Earlier this week, the ROC said 14 of its athletes from the 2008 Beijing Olympics had tested positive for banned substances.

And on Friday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said 23 athletes from five sports at London 2012 had tested positive for doping during re-checks.

Russia is under investigation following a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that suggested a widespread doping program.

The ROC said on Saturday it would not name the athletes with the latest positive tests until they had the results of their B-sample tests and following the start of official disciplinary proceedings. That is expected to be early next month.

In a bid to improve its chances of returning to competition in time for Rio, Russia's athletics federation has said it will not include any athletes on its Olympic team who had been banned for doping in the past.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world