The IOC last month banned Vadim Devyatovskiy from the Olympics for life for a second doping offense. (Getty Images)(ATR) Two Belarussian hammer throwers who were stripped of their Beijing Olympic medals for doping launch appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn an IOC decision disqualifying them from the Games.
Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan, silver and bronze medalists in the hammer in Beijing, filed appeals to the CAS Tuesday. It is not yet known when the hearings will take place, but the appeal process is expected to last four months.
The pair were stripped of their medals in a ruling by the IOC Executive Board last month. Both had tested positive for abnormal levels of testosterone after the hammer throw final Aug. 17, although they denied doping at IOC hearings in Lausanne in September.
Devyatovskiy was also hit with a lifetime ban from the Olympics for a second doping violation; the 31-year-old served a two-year suspension for a previous drugs offense.
If CAS upholds the IOC decision, he would be banned from the sport for life for two doping offenses under the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Tsikhan, a silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, faces a possible two-year ban from the IAAF for his first doping violation.
If sanctioned for six months or longer, the 32-year-old would be barred from competing in the London 2012 Games under the IOC's eligibility ruling. Under the regulation, any athlete banned for six months or more for doping is automatically banned from competing at the next Olympics.
The IOC ruling on the doping cases led to Krisztian Pars of Hungary being upgraded to the silver medal in the hammer with the bronze going to Koji Murofushi of Japan.
The Dec. 11 sanctioning of the two Belarussian athletes, along with Polish kayaker Adam Seroczynski, for drugs offenses in Beijing brought the total number of athletes caught doping at the Games to nine.
The IOC may yet uncover more doping violations from the Beijing Olympics where nearly 5,000 drugs tests were carried out. Around 500 drug samples from athletes who competed at the Games are currently being retested for insulin and Cera, a new version of the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO. The results are expected by March.
With reporting from Mark Bisson.
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