Games: High-profile drugs case

2008-08-20 15:46

Beijing - Ukraine's heptathlon silver medallist Liudmyla Blonska has failed a drugs test, the IOC confirmed on Wednesday as the first high-profile doping failure hit the Beijing Olympics on the 13th day.

The 30-year-old had failed her A sample and the result of the B sample would be known on Thursday.

Blonska faced a lifetime ban if both samples prove positive after serving a previous suspension for taking stanozolol, the anabolic steroid used by disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson.

"There has been an adverse finding in her A sample against her (Blonska)," and IOC source told AFP.

International Athletics Federation president Lamine Diack confirmed an investigation was underway.

"The procedure is running. The B-sample will no doubt be opened today and a decision taken tomorrow (Thursday)."

If confirmed, Blonska would be the fifth athlete to test positive, although the previous four only involved one podium finisher - North Korean shooter Kim Jong-Su, a minor medallist.

- AFP