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          IOC: 31 Athletes From 2008 Olympics Test Positive for Doping

   by VOA News

   In a major crackdown of Olympic drug cheats, the International Olympic
   Commission announced that 31 athletes could be banned from this year's
   Olympic Games in Rio after a re-testing of their samples from the 2008
   Olympic Games, came back positive for banned substances.

   The IOC says it has begun disciplinary actions against the 31 athletes
   who come from 12 countries and competed in six sports in the Beijing
   Games.

   The positive tests came amid a recent re-testing of 454 doping samples
   from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. IOC officials say they are also
   awaiting results from re-testing of 250 samples from the 2012 Games in
   London.

   The IOC says the testing focused on athletes who could compete in
   August at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

   "All those athletes infringing anti-doping rules will be banned from
   competing at the Olympic Games," the IOC said in a statement on its
   website.

   The IOC says it will also undertake a wider re-testing program of
   medalists from the Beijing and London games. Samples of athletes who
   could be awarded medals after the disqualification of others will also
   be re-tested.

   The IOC said it has also called on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
   to launch a "fully fledged investigation" into allegations that drug
   testing at the 2014 Sochi Olympics was subverted by Russian officials.

   "All these measures are a powerful strike against the cheats we do not
   allow to win," said the IOC President Thomas Bach.

   "The re-tests from Beijing and London and the measures we are taking
   following the worrying allegations against the laboratory in Sochi are
   another major step to protect the clean athletes, irrespective of any
   sport or any nation."
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/international-olympic-committee-dopin
   g/3334085.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/international-olympic-committee-doping/3334085.html