Nearly 100 London, Beijing Olympics Athletes Test Positive for Doping

Some 100 athletes who competed in the London and Beijing Olympics have tested positive for doping, according to the International Olympic Committee.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Sputnik) – Nearly 100 athletes that took part in the London and Beijing Olympics tested positive for doping in re-analyses that are still ongoing, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said Tuesday, adding that the sports court will examine doping cases starting this year.

“We undertook the most comprehensive re-analysis program ever of doping samples from the Olympic Games 2008 and 2012. This program specifically targeted athletes that could potentially start in Rio de Janeiro. In total, over 1,200 doping samples were selected to be reanalyzed. The latest results bring the total number of athletes who tested positive for prohibited substances to nearly 100. More tests are underway as we speak,” Bach said.

Speaking at the 129th IOC session, Bach said up to 4,500 urine and 1,000 blood doping samples collected in Rio would be stored for 10 years.

"Starting with Rio, sanctioning of doping cases at the Olympic Games will be handled independently by CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport] and no longer by the IOC," Bach added.

The IOC chief rejected “insinuations” calling for the “nuclear option” of imposing blanket bans on individual national Olympic committees and called for a full review of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) activity.