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Russian javelin thrower stripped of 2008 silver; three more sanctioned
LAUSANNE: Russian Maria Abakumova was on Tuesday stripped of the javelin silver medal she won at the 2008 Olympic Games after re-analysis of samples taken in Beijing
LAUSANNE: Russian Maria Abakumova was on Tuesday stripped of the javelin silver medal she won at the 2008 Olympic Games after re-analysis of samples taken in Beijing tested positive for drugs.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Abakumova had tested positive for turinabol, an anabolic steroid.
In Beijing, the Russian finished ahead of Germany’s Christina Obergfoll with Britain’s Goldie Sayers in fourth in the competition won by Czech Barbora Spotakova.
Abakumova was also world champion in Daegu in 2011, but finished only 10th in the London Olympics in 2012 before rebounding to claim bronze in the 2014 Moscow worlds.
The other athletes disqualified following re-testing are 10,000 metres runner Inga Abitova and 400 metres runner Denis Alexeev, who both competed in Beijing, and track cyclist Ekaterina Gnidenko, who competed in London, an IOC statement said.
ROME MAY WITHDRAW OLYMPIC BID
ROME: Rome will abandon its bid to host the 2024 Olympics if sceptical new mayor Virginia Raggi does not back it by early next month, the president of Italy’s Olympic Committee said.
“If by October 7 the city council has not guaranteed (its support) we cannot go forward,” Giovanni Malago told a press conference.
New mayor Raggi has made it clear she does not regard the Olympic bid a good idea for the cash-strapped city. “There will be no cost involved for Roman citizens,” he said, arguing that the 5.3-billion-euro (`39949.71 crores) budget for the Games would be fully covered by the Olympic Committee, sponsors and the national government.
