|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Two Bulgarian weightlifters stripped of medals for doping
ATTENTION - RECASTS /// SYDNEY, Sept 22 (AFP) - The first women's weightlifting champion in Olympic history was stripped of her gold medal and thrown out of the Games Friday after a positive drugs test. Women's 48kg gold medallist Izabela Dragneva of Bulgaria was joined by compatriot Sevdalin Minchev, the men's 62kg bronze medallist. Both tested positive to banned diuretics in tests taken after their competitions earlier this week, raising the possibility that the entire Bulgarian weightlifting will be kicked out. "Izabela Dragneva has been disqualfied and excluded from the Games for using prohibited substances," IOC director general Francois Carrard told a news conference. "The Bulgarian Olympic Committee has been ordered to return the gold medal. Sevdalin Minchev has also been disqualified and excluded for using prohibited substances." It is the first year women's weightlifting has been an Olympic sport and Dragneva was the first gold medallist. Bulagria has now tested positive three times in Sydney, meaning the team will either have to pay a 50,000 US dollar or withdraw its weightlifting team. Carrard said he did not know their plans. "I have no information on whether the entire Bulgarian team has left," he said. "But I don't see any reason why clean athletes should be punished for the offences of cheats." Under IWF rules, a country is automatically banned from competition if three or more athletes test positive in a calendar year, although there is an option to pay the fine. The Romanian weightlifting team paid the fine earlier this week after three positive tests although Bulgaria opted to withdraw from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul after two of its gold medallists were caught using diuretics. Carrard was coy on the future of weightlifting as an Olympic sport, but said there would be high level talks when the Games were over. "Weightlifting did have problems. It has made strong efforts to catch cheats," he said. "After the Games we will have to discuss the situation with them." Dragneva's gold medal will now go to Tara Nott of the United States, the silver to Lisa Raema Rumbewas of Indonesia and bronze to her compatriot Sri Indriyan. "It was just starting to sink in that I won the silver, so right now I'm kind of in shock," said Nott, who also becomes America's first weightlifting gold medallist in 40 years. "I would obviously want to win the gold on the platform but it's good to know that those who cheat are getting caught. "It will mean that some day we will have a level playing field and myself and others will be able to win on the platform, rather than after a drug test." Gennady Oleshchuk of Belarus will be promoted to bronze from fourth place in the men's 62kg. Carrard said 760 in-competition tests had so far been conducted in addition to 227 out-of-competition blood tests and 323 urine tests, but he was not aware of any other suspicious results. Diuretics help to eliminate fluid from the body and are used by competitors to lose weight quickly in sports with weight categories. They can also increase the rate at which urine is produced and eliminated to make it more difficult to detect banned substances.
|
