BERLIN,(Reuters) – Russian high jumper Anna Chicherova was officially stripped of her 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medal after she tested positive for banned substances in re-tests of samples, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday.
Chicherova, who won gold in the high jump at the 2012 Olympics, is among several athletes to have been stripped of their Olympic medals following re-tests of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
“Re-analysis of Chicherova’s samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol),” the IOC said in a statement.
Turinabol is a performance-boosting steroid.
The IOC also requested from the international athletics federation (IAAF) to “modify the results of the above-mentioned event accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.”
Fellow Russian Elena Slesarenko, a gold medallist at the 2004 Athens Games finished fourth in the competition in China.
Russia have been stripped of several medals, including the women’s 4×400 and 4×100 metres events from 2008 following the re-tests.
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 Beijing Games and 2012 London Olympics as the IOC attempted to root out cheats and stop them from going to the Rio Games.
