Russian Tatyana Lysenko stripped of 2012 Olympic hammer gold medal
ByReuters
Updated 11/10/2016 at 16:43 GMT
Russia's Tatyana Lysenko has been stripped of her London 2012 Olympic gold medal in the hammer throw after she tested positive for steroids in re-tests of her sample, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday.
Tatyana Lysenko
Image credit: Eurosport
"Re-analysis of Lysenko's samples from London 2012 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone [turinabol]," the IOC said.
The double world champion, who now competes under the name Beloborodova, had already been banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for doping earlier this year.
She won world titles in 2011 and 2013 to add to her Olympic gold but did not compete at the Rio Games due to a track and field ban on Russian athletes.
Lysenko, 33, also served a two-year ban from 2007-09 for using steroids, missing the 2008 Olympics, and now faces a lifetime suspension from the sport.
The IOC stores samples for a decade to test with newer methods or for new substances. The ruling body conducted targeted re-tests before the Rio Olympics.
A total of 98 samples were positive in reanalysis from the 2008 and 2012 Games as the IOC attempted to root out cheats and stop them from going to the Rio Games.
Lysenko joins several other members of the Russian athletics team to have been retrospectively stripped of their Olympic medals, including 2008 javelin silver medalist, Maria Abakumova and 400m relay team member Denis Alexeev, who won bronze that year.
The IOC said the decision takes immediate effect and that Lysenko will now be required to return her gold medal to the IOC as soon as possible.
The IAAF must now modify the results of the event in London, where Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk finished second behind Lysenko and Germany's Betty Heidler came third.
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