Eleven Greek Weightlifters test positive
Eleven members of the Greek national weightlifting team — reportedly 5 men and 6 women - have tested positive for banned substances, the Greek Weightlifting Federation said on Friday.
Names of the athletes were not released pending confirmation of the tests from March 7, performed on 14 athletes at Athens’ Agios Kosmas training center. The federation said the tests were conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency on orders from the International Weightlifting Federation.
“In surprise out-of-competition tests run by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) on the orders of the International Weightlifting Federation, the A samples of 11 (out of 14) athletes turned out positive,” it said in a statement.
National team coach Christos Iakovou, 60, credited with building the 90’s “Dream Team” that won several medals at the Olympics and World Championships, had handed in his resignation and had been suspended pending the investigation.
The federation said it would test the B samples before setting up a special committee to investigate the issue affecting the majority of the team.
News reports further suggested that the majority of the 11 athletes implicated are senior level, and not members of the team that recently took part in the European Union Championship in Germany.
The team’s participation at the Beijing Games, where they were planning to send 5 men and 2 women, is now in serious doubt, according to a federation official speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Given the very large number of positive tests, and if the B samples are positive as well, then the team as a whole could be banned from competing in the Beijing Games,” the federation official said.
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