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Russians Stripped Of Two Olympic Medals For Doping


Russia has been stripped of two medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics in doping retests.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on September 13 that Maria Abakumova's doping samples were retested and came back positive.

The javelin thrower won silver at the 2008 Olympics.

Denis Alexeev, who helped Russia's men's 4 x 400-meter relay team win bronze in Beijing, was also disqualified following retesting, an OIC statement said.

Two other Russian Olympians were disqualified -- 10,000-meter runner Inga Abitova, who also competed in Beijing, and track cyclist Ekaterina Gnidenko, who competed in the 2012 London Olympics. None of them placed in the top three in their events.

The IOC says all four cases involve the steroid turinabol.

The four athletes are the latest in a series of athletes who have tested positive for forbidden substances in retests of samples from Beijing and London.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

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