IOC retesting
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) informed Russia this week that eight A biological samples retested have come back positive for banned substances. The retesting has been done by the IOC due to the development of new detection methods; samples are kept stored for 10 years in case of just such an eventuality.
Russia said the eight were part of three sports but did not name the athletes nor did they say from which sports they are from.
The IOC said those found to have cheated will have their participation at the 2012 London Olympic Games stricken from the record books and they will be stripped of any medals they may have won. Athletes found to have retested positive will be banned from the Rio games.
Doping scandal
Russia has not said if any of these athletes were intending to partake in the 2016 summer games. The eight join 12 other Russian athletes from the 2008 Beijing Summer Games who were also found positive upon retesting last month.
There is talk of Russia being accused of a mass steroid doping scandal and even the Russian Sports Minister, Vitaly Mutko, has acknowledged the possibility that Russia could be banned from partaking in Rio.
In the retesting the IOC has done to date of athletes from London, 23 were found positive out of 265 that were retested. Officials said those retested were chosen from “intelligence-gathering” and more retesting. also being referred to as ‘re-analyzing,’ is being done.
It has yet to be revealed what countries the other 15 London athletes who retested positive are from.
