Heptathlon silver medallist Blonska fails drugs test

Beijing: Ukraine's Olympic heptathlon silver medallist Liudmyla Blonska has failed a drugs test, the IOC confirmed on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old's A sample tested positive for a banned substance, but the IOC source said they were still awaiting the results of the B sample.

The Disciplinary Commission of the IOC will hold a meeting on Thursday before passing on their recommendations to the Executive Board.

"There has been an adverse finding in her A sample against her (Blonska)," said the source.

"And there is a process being followed against her. However, she has not been stripped of her medal.

"There will be a Disciplinary Commission hearing about her case on Thursday morning and because she is a medallist it will be then passed to the Executive Board."

The Ukrainian had already served a previous ban for testing positive in 2003 for stanozolol, the anabolic steroid used by the disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson.

She nowe faces a life ban for the latest offence.

Should the executive board strip Blonska of her medal, the silver would go to American Hyleas Fountain while Tatiana Chernova of Russia would receive the bronze.

Lamine Diack, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said that the substance was methyltestosterone, a banned steroid.

"The A-sample was positive and the B-test will be tonight," he said.

Blonska's is the fifth drugs case of the Beijing Games.

Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno tested positive for EPO, North Korean shooting medalist Kim-Jong-Su (betablockers), Vietnamese gymnast Do Thi Ngan Thuong (diuretic) while Greece's rarely seen 2004 Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Fani Halkia, tested positive for steroids at a training camp.

Blonska, who also reached the long jump final here on Tuesday, was labelled a cheat by British number one heptathlete Kelly Sotherton after taking silver in the world championships in Osaka last year.

Sotherton, who took bronze in Japan, questioned the Ukrainian's medal in an event comfortably by Sweden's Carolina Kluft.

"I think you can see by the reactions from the other athletes that we are not interested when she is there, we don't support cheats," said Sotherton at the time.

"She has cheated once, who says she is not cheating again?"

"It tarnishes our event and we don't support it in our event, that's why she does not get the support." ####