Ten more athletes, mostly weightlifters and wrestlers from Russia and former Soviet states, have been stripped of medals they won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after failing doping retests.
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The International Olympic Committee said on November 17 that a total of 16 athletes failed the retests and will be disqualified from participating in the Olympics.
The athletes include three Beijing silver medallists - Russia's Khasan Baroev in men's 96-120 kilo Greco-Roman wrestling, Azerbaijan's Vitaliy Rahimov in men's 55-60 kilo Greco-Roman wrestling, and Kazakhstan's Irina Nekrassova in women's 63 kilo weightlifting.
Also penalized were four bronze medallists in weightlifting - Russia's Khadzhimurat Akkaev (men's 94 kilos) and Dmitry Lapikov (men's 105 kilos), Kazakhstan's Mariya Grabovetskaya (women's 75+ kilos) and Ukraine's Natalya Davydova (women's 69 kilos).
Two athletics bronze medallists -- Ukraine's Denys Yurchenko (men's pole vault) and Greece's Chrysopigi Devetzi (women's triple jump) -- were disqualified along with Kazakhstan's Asset Mambetov, who took part in the men's 84-96kg Greco-Roman wrestling.
The Olympic committee stores samples for a decade to test with newer methods when they become available.
