A further 45 athletes have tested positive for banned substances after a second set of samples provided at the London and Beijing Olympics were reanalysed, the International Olympic Committee has announced.
The number of additional positive tests – comprising 30 athletes from Beijing and 15 from London – takes the total number of athletes who have failed doping tests during the period of reanalysis so far to 98.
The IOC said 23 of the 30 positive tests taken from the Beijing samples involved medallists. The 15 positives from London covered athletes from nine countries and two sports.
Thomas Bach, the IOC president, said: “The new reanalysis once again shows the commitment of the IOC in the fight against doping.”
The IOC’s announcement follows the decision by the court of arbitration for sport earlier this week to uphold the decision of athletics’ world governing body the IAAF to ban Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics due to widespread doping violations.
And it also comes after an independent commission report earlier this week which alleged state-sponsored doping by Russia centred around the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
The IOC is currently under pressure to extend the IAAF’s ban on Russian competitors in Rio to all sports, but is yet to deliver its verdict. The IOC’s executive board is due to convene again on Sunday.
The nationalities of the athletes involved in the 45 new cases are yet to be revealed, with the IOC currently undertaking the process of informing their respective international associations.
And there is set to be more bad news on the way with more samples from Beijing and London - specifically aimed at medal winners - set to be conducted throughout and beyond the Rio Games.