Cuban stripped of silver medal in 2008 discus for doping

Cuban stripped of silver medal in 2008 discus for doping

Yarelys Barrios of Cuba was stripped of the silver medal in the women's
discus from the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Thursday after testing positive
in a reanalysis of her doping samples.
The Associated Press

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
Yarelys Barrios of Cuba was stripped of the silver medal in the women's
discus from the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Thursday after testing positive
in a reanalysis of her doping samples.

Barrios tested positive for acetazolamide, a banned diuretic and masking
agent, the International Olympic Committee said in the latest of a
string of doping cases from past Olympics.

The 33-year-old Barrios has been retroactively disqualified and loses
the silver medal, which she won with a throw of 63.64 meters. The silver
now stands to go to Olena Antonova of Ukraine, with China's Song Aimin
in line to move from fourth to bronze. Stephanie Brown Tratfton of the
United States won the gold with a throw of 64.74 meters.

Barrios also competed at the 2012 London Olympics, where she was
upgraded from fourth place to the bronze medal after Russia's Darya
Pishchainikova was retroactively stripped of the silver for doping.

The IOC asked track and field's governing body, the IAAF, to modify the
2008 discus results and consider any further action against Barrios, who
was also a two-time silver medalist at the world championships and
two-time gold medalist in the Pan American Games.

Also Thursday, Qatari sprinter Samuel Adelebari Francis was disqualified
from the Beijing Games after testing positive for the steroid
stanozolol. The Nigerian-born Francis was eliminated in the 100-meter
heats and did not start in the 200.

Francis was the 100-meter champion at the 2007 Asian Games in Amman,
winning in a personal best time of 9.99 seconds.

Barrios and Francis are the latest athletes sanctioned after retests of
more than 1,000 samples from the Beijing and London Olympics produced 98
positive cases. On Wednesday, six athletes — including four medalists —
were disqualified for doping in Beijing.

The IOC stores samples for 10 years to allow them to be reanalyzed when
improved methods become available. The latest tests can detect the use
of steroids going back weeks and months, rather than days.

Source: Cuban stripped of silver medal in 2008 discus for doping | In
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