Greek weightlifters test positive

by Amy Judd | April 4, 2008 at 10:28 am

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Eleven out of fourteen members of Greece's national weightlifting team have tested postive for banned substances, which could mean that Greece would not have any representatives in this sport at the Beijing Olympics later this year.

The Greek Weightlifting Federation said it would test the B samples before setting up a special investigation.

It also said national coach Christos Iacovou had handed in his resignation and been suspended.

If the B samples also test positive, Greece could find itself without a weighlifting team at the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

Since the 1992 Barcelona Games, Greece has won 12 Olympic weightlifting medals, including five golds. Before Barcelona the country had not won a weightlifting medal since the 1904 Games.

Iacovou, a former weightlifter himself, has been in charge of the national team since Barcelona.

The Greek federation said the out-of-competition drugs tests were conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency on the orders of the International Weightlifting Federation.