Ukrainian heptathlete Liudmyla Blonska has had her Olympic silver medal taken away and faces a lifetime ban from the sport after failing a drugs test.
Blonska had earlier been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the anabolic steroid methyltestosterone. The silver now goes to Hyleas Fountain of the United States with Russia’s Tatiana Chernova taking the bronze.
Blonska received a two year ban in 2003 after traces of the banned substance stanozolol were found in her system.
Her return to the sport made Blonska a somewhat controversial figure and after the heptathlon contest in Beijing, British athlete Kelly Sotherton, who made no secret of her suspicions about the Ukranian, pointedly refused to shake her hand at the end of the competition.
Had Blonska’s first positive test been under current anti-doping rules, she would have been banned for four years and would not have been taking part in Beijing. However, back in 2003, the rules were a little more lenient and did not include an Olympic ban.