Chronology of major doping scandals

LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) -- Following is a chronology of major doping events in recent sporting history:

1960

Danish cyclist Kirt Jensen dies at the Rome Olympics after taking a combination of nicotinic acid and amphetamines.

1967

Briton Tommy Simpson dies on a hill climb during the Tour de France. A vial containing an amphetamine is found on his body.

1988

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tests positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol after winning the Seoul Olympic 100 metres final in a world-record 9.79 seconds.

Johnson, who denies ever taking a performance-enhancing drug, is stripped of his gold medal which is awarded to second-placed American Carl Lewis, the defending champion.

1989

Canadian government sets up official inquiry under Charles Dubin, an associate chief justice of the Ontario Supreme Court.

Johnson's coach Charlie Francis and his doctor Jamie Astaphan tell the inquiry Johnson had been taking steroids since 1981. Johnson admits taking steroids and lying to the public when he said he was innocent.

World governing body strips Johnson of all his marks, including his world record 9.83 seconds set at the 1987 Rome world championships.

1994

Seven swimmers are among 11 Chinese athletes who test positive for steroids at the Asian Games in Hiroshima. China lose nine of their 23 gold medals.

1998

January - Chinese swimmer Yuan Yuan and her coach are banned from the Perth, Australia, world championships in January after 13 vials of human growth hormone are discovered in swimmers' bags at Sydney airport.

Four more Chinese are suspended after testing positive for a banned diuretic.

July - Festina cycling team expelled in the first week of the Tour de France after customs officers discover a team car loaded with performance-enhancing drugs.

The team's director Bruno Roussel admits to widespread doping. Police also investigate the Dutch TMV team. Riders from other teams go on strike in protest.

1999

France's Richard Virenque, a member of the Festina team, is banned for six months after admitting doping.

Britain's 1992 Olympic 100 metres champion Linford Christie suspended after positive test for nandrolone.

2000

World shot put champion C.J. Hunter tests positive four times for excessive levels of nandrolone. The results are announced during the Sydney Olympics where his wife Marion Jones wins three gold medals.

2003

Scientists at the Olympic Analytical Laboratory in Los Angeles discover a new designer steroid THG after an anonymous tipoff from a man claiming to be a well-known athletics coach.

Britain's European 100 metres champion Dwain Chambers is one of five track and field athletes to test positive for the new drug.

2004

Chambers banned for two years and Britain stripped of their world 4x100 relay silver medals.

Chambers' coach Remi Korchemny and BALCO owner Victor Conte among four men indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of distributing illegal steroids and human growth hormones. All four plead not guilty.

May - Double world sprint champion Kelli White, also coached by Korchemny, becomes the first athlete to be banned for a "non-analytical positive." Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, athletes can be banned if there is sufficient evidence of doping other than a positive test.

June - World 100 metres record holder Tim Montgomery, Jones's new partner, receives a letter from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency alleging doping violations.

July - Three riders, including Britain's David Millar, are not allowed to start the Tour de France. Two other riders are kicked out after the Tour begins because of doping investigations.

Millar later admits to taking the blood booster EPO (erythropoietin).

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