ATHENS, Greece -- Russian 400-meter runner Anton Galkin was
expelled from the Summer Games on Friday after testing positive for
steroids, the country's senior Olympic official said.
Galkin tested positive for stanozolol after his Aug. 21 race in
the 400 semifinals, IOC vice president Vitaly Smirnov said. Galkin
finished fourth in the race and did not make the finals.
The International Olympic Committee executive board disqualified
him and revoked his accreditation, Smirnov said.
Galkin is the 20th athlete of the Athens Games caught for a
doping violation, a record high, and the third Russian to test
positive.
The list of other doping-related cases at the Games:
Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was the first athlete in
Athens stripped of a medal because of a doping offense. Sampanis
lost his bronze from the 62-kilogram class.
Russian shot putter Irina Korzhanenko tested positive for
steroids after she won the gold and was stripped of her medal.
Hungary's Robert Fazekas lost his gold medal in discus for
allegedly tampering with a doping test.
Ukrainian rower Olena Olefirenko tested positive for a banned
stimulant, costing her four-woman crew the bronze medal in
lightweight sculls.
Weightlifter Zoltan Kovacs of Hungary, who finished last in
the 105-kilogram class, was banished from the games for failing to
provide a urine sample. He was the 10th weightlifter punished at
the games for doping.
Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou pulled out
of the games while the IOC was investigating their missed doping
tests.
Belarusian high jumper Aleksey Lesnichyi was kicked out of the
games after testing positive for the steroid clenbuterol.
Kenyan boxer David Munyasia was barred by the IOC after
testing positive for a banned stimulant in an out-of-competition
test.
Weightlifters Wafa Ammouri of Morocco, Zoltan Kecskes of
Hungary, Viktor Chislean of Moldova, Pratima Kumari Na of India and
Sule Sahbaz of Turkey were suspended by the International
Weightlifting Federation for failing drug tests taken before the
Athens Games.
Weightlifter Albina Khomich of Russia failed an IWF
pre-competition doping test and was disqualified from the 75-kg
competition.
Weightlifter Myanmar's Nan Aye Khine was stripped of her
fourth-place finish at 48 kg after testing positive for steroids in
an IOC test.
Weightlifter Sanamacha Chanu of India was stripped of her
fourth-place finish in the 53-kg class after testing positive for a
banned diuretic that can be used as a masking agent.
Four days before the start of the games, two Greek baseball
players, a Swiss cyclist, a Spanish canoe team member and an Irish
distance runner were banned because of doping.
American sprinter Torri Edwards had her two-year drug
suspension upheld by an arbitration panel during the games. She
tested positive for a stimulant at an April meet.
Hungarian athletes involved in two more cases
A record-setting Hungarian weightlifter
was in danger of losing his silver medal Friday because he failed a
drug test, a national Olympic committee spokesman said.
The IOC scheduled a disciplinary hearing later Friday for Ferenc
Gyurkovics, who won his medal Tuesday night in the 231-pound (105
kg) class.
Gyurkovics failed his drug test, and the Hungarian Olympic
Committee planned to ask the IOC to have his backup sample tested
by an independent laboratory, spokesman Dezso Vad said.
Gyurkovics set an Olympic record by lifting 429 pounds (195 kg)
in the snatch on Tuesday, but wound up finishing second to Dmitri
Berestov of Russia in the overall totals.
Four medals already have been overturned at the Athens Games for
doping violations.
In addition, Hungarian hammer throw champion Adrian Annus was in
danger of losing his gold medal after a doping official reported
that he failed to show up for a drug test on Friday.
The International Olympic Committee located Annus in Hungary and
ordered him to provide another urine sample. Annus passed a drug
test after winning the hammer throw on Sunday, but doping control
officials want to verify the results.
The IOC wants to know whether he provided his own urine for the
test or tried to beat the screening system, as teammate and discus
gold medalist Robert Fazekas allegedly did.
Fazekas was stripped of his medal after Olympic authorities said
he failed to provide enough urine for drug test. Doping control
officials suspected that Fazekas may have tried to beat the test by
using a catheter to inject "clean'' urine into his bladder -- a
method used by some athletes in the past.
Fazekas has denied the charges.
Annus failed to show up Friday at an assigned location to give
another urine sample, Karl-Heinz Demel of the Austrian Anti-Doping
Committee told the Austrian news agency APA. Demel was ordered to
supervise the test.
Hungarian Olympic officials expect him to lose his medal as a
result.
"I presume if he fails to comply with all the rules and
regulations of the doping code, the medal will be withdrawn,'' said
Pal Schmitt, head of the Hungarian Olympic committee.
Annus retired on Thursday, but remains under the jurisdiction of
IOC doping rules through Sunday, when the games conclude. If found
guilty of a doping offense by then, he would also lose his medal.
IOC president Jacques Rogge said Friday that Annus will be
subjected to out-of-competition testing. Without specifically
referring to him, Rogge said the IOC can use DNA tests to match
urine samples.
"This is something we have in our weaponry. We didn't need it
at this stage, but we have it and it might be used in the future,''
he said.