Today in Doping: Blonska stripped of silver medal

Blonska was temporarily suspended by the IOC on Thursday, and her medal was officially removed Friday by the IOC executive board.

Blonska, who blamed her coach and husband for the positive test, also was dropped from Friday's long jump final after finishing third in qualifying earlier in the week. Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare advanced to the final in her place and won the bronze medal Friday.

Combinations of horses and riders from Brazil, Germany, Ireland and Norway were all suspended after initial tests showed the presence of capsaicin, which is widely used in topical ointments for the treatment of minor horse injuries. The substance is banned at the Olympics because it can also serve as a mild stimulant.

The banned rider Tony Andre Hansen and his horse, Camiro, were part of the Norwegian show jumping team that captured a bronze medal on Monday. The Fédération Equestre International, the sport’s international governing body, deferred a decision on whether to revoke the bronze medal until after final test results were confirmed.

Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno has tested positive for the blood booster EPO, making her the first doping offender in Olympic testing at the Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Monday.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said that Moreno, 27, failed a test conducted on July 31 in the Olympic village and flew home the same night 'before having heard the results of her tests.' She was due to compete in the road time trial.

The latest drug dropout: World No. 1 foil fencer Andrea Baldini of Italy. He tested positive for a banned diuretic after the World Fencing Championships in Kiev last month. “I hope that the counter-analysis clears him,” said Giorgio Scarso, president of the Italian Fencing Federation, referring to awaited results on the second urine sample. “As they say, hope dies last.”

Italian Riccardo Ricco was officially dropped by the Italian Olympic federation after being ejected last month from the Tour de France, where he won two stages, for taking banned substances. He was also the runner up at the Giro d’Italia. Ricco has owned up to his actions. “What I did during the Tour is done — I made a mistake and the mistake is only mine,” he said at a tribunal in Rome.

All the suspended athletes are women. The five on the Russian Olympic team are distance runners Yelena Soboleva, Tatyana Tomashova and Yulia Fomenko, along with Darya Pishchalnikova (discus) and Gulfiya Khanafeyeva (hammer). (A listing of the full Russian athletics team appears here.)

The other two athletes are Svetlana Cherkasova (800m) and Olga Yegorova (1500m/5000m).

The seven were charged with “fraudulent substitution of urine which is both a prohibited method and also a form of tampering with the doping control processm” according to a statement from the IAAF.

World indoor 1500 metres champion Yelena Soboleva has vowed to clear her name after being provisionally suspended by the IAAF along with six other Russian athletes for doping offences on Thursday.

The 25-year-old - the world leader over 800m and 1500m this year - was due to compete at next month's Beijing Olympics with fellow distance runners Tatyana Tomashova and Yulia Fomenko, discus thrower Darya Pishchalnikova and hammer thrower Gulfiya Khanafeyeva.

She told Sport Express: "I was informed of this today. I totally disagree with this verdict as I have absolutely no reason to consider myself guilty. Naturally I will contest this."

Soboleva added: "However, as we are talking about the national team and the Olympic Games, I am resigned to the IAAF's decision.

Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association, told a Kingston radio station Wednesday that Dunkley's name was removed from the 53-member track and field team late Monday.

"I will comment when it is appropriate," Fennell said.

Fennell confirmed Tuesday that an athlete had been kicked off the squad, but declined to name the athlete. He did, however, indicate that it was a male, and not a "major" member of the Beijing-bound team.

Dunkley — one of 25 men named to Jamaica's track and field roster — finished sixth in the 100 metres at the country's Olympic trials in June, but was expected to be a member of the country's relay team.

Jamaica`s Minister Of Information, Culture, Youth And Sports, Olivia `Babsy` Grange, said that she was disappointed by the latest doping discovery but that she was `confident that this isolated case will have no impact on the team which has been selected for the Olympics.`