Russian Federation must return ’08 relay gold after doping

Russia’s Olympic Committee should return the gold medals to the IOC as soon as possible.

Russian Federation have been stripped of the 4×100 metre relay title they won at Beijing 2008 after a re-analysis of Yulia Chermoshanskaya’s stored samples resulted in a positive test for banned substances. “Reanalysis of Chermoshanskaya’s samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substances stanozolol and dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol)”.

Nigeria won bronze, and will move up to silver, with fourth-place Brazil now getting the bronze. Under IAAF rules, an entire relay team loses its medals if one of the runners tests positive. The Jamaican and British teams dropped the baton in the final.

Some users also say it reduces the amount of recovery time needed after injury.

Russian Federation has been in the spotlight at the ongoing Rio Olympics after revelations of a state-sponsored doping regime saw its team slashed by almost a third. A total of 98 athletes were caught.

But improved testing procedures allows them to detect use of these substance over a far longer period, International Olympic Committee medical and scientific director Richard Budgett has claimed, meaning those who took the products during training rather than directly before a competition are now being caught.

As part of this process, the IOC today announced that an athlete has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.