IOC Discovers 31 New Positives In Retests Of 2008 Doping Samples

As is standard practice, the International Olympic Committee recently retested urine samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Using new methods that can detect the presence of performance enhancing drugs that were previously undetectable, the IOC found 31 new positive tests.

From the IOC’s official statement:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) retested 454 selected doping samples from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008. The re-tests follow work with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Federations. They were focused on athletes who could potentially start at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and were conducted using the very latest scientific analysis methods. As a result up to 31 athletes from six sports could be banned from competing at the Olympic Games in Rio. The Executive Board of the IOC today agreed unanimously to initiate proceedings immediately, with the 12 NOCs* concerned informed in the coming days. All those athletes infringing anti-doping rules will be banned from competing at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

31 positive tests isn’t the biggest deal, but that’s mostly because the Beijing games were eight years ago, and there just aren’t that many athletes who competed in those Olympics getting ready for the upcoming games in Rio. Things could get really messy when the IOC gets to the samples from the 2012 games, where the pool of athletes planning to compete this summer is much bigger.

Photo via AP