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Shot put gold medallist fails drug test
Irina Korzhanenko, the first woman to win a gold medal at the sacred site of Ancient Olympia, failed a doping control, the sources said.
Russia's gold medallist in the women's shot put is under investigation for a positive drug test, Olympic sources said on Sunday.
Irina Korzhanenko, the first woman to win a gold medal at the sacred site of Ancient Olympia, failed a doping control after Wednesday's competition, the sources said on condition of anonymity. She will face a hearing before a disciplinary commission of the International Olympic Committee. If found guilty of a doping violation, she would be stripped of the medal and expelled from the games.
If disqualified, the gold would go to Cuba's Yumileidi Cumba Jay. Korzhanenko won the gold medal with a throw of 21.06 meters. The event was held at the ancient site about 320 kilometres southwest of Athens, two days before the start of the rest of the track and field competition in the Greek capital. It was the first time women have competed at the site. The ancient Olympics were for men only.
In 1999, Korzhanenko was stripped of the silver medal at the world indoor championships for a doping violation. She won the world indoor title in 2003 in Birmingham, England, and placed fourth at last year's world outdoors in Paris.
