Cuban stripped of Olympic discus silver over doping

Berlin, Sept. 1, (GNA/dpa) - The 2008 Olympics women's discus silver medallist Yarelys Barrios of Cuba has been stripped of her medal after testing positive for a banned substance, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Thursday.

A reanalysis of Barrios' samples from Beijing 2008 tested positive for acetazolamide, a banned diuretic and masking agent.

Barrios is ordered to return the silver medal, her diploma and the medallist pin, the IOC said.

Barrios finished behind Stephanie Brown Trafton of the United States in the women's discus final. Olena Antonova of Ukraine who took bronze, and Song Aimin of China, who was fourth, could now be upgraded.

Barrios also competed at the 2012 London Olympics when she finished fourth but was upgraded to the bronze medal after Russian Darya Pishchalnikova was stripped of the silver for doping.

The IOC has also disqualified Qatari sprinter Samuel Francis after retesting from the 2008 Games.

A reanalysis has shown that Francis, who finished 16th in the 100 metres and did not start the 200m, has tested positive for stanozolol, a synthetic anabolic steroid.

The IOC is continuing with additional analyses of samples taken during the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games using improved analytical methods.

GNA