Fight Against Doping -- B Samples Confirm Drugs; Chambers Treated Unfairly; Skater Denies Doping

Rashid Ramzi’s backup “B” sample confirmed the presence of CERA. (Getty Images) Olympic Champions’ Backup Samples Confirm Doping

Samples from five Beijing Olympians -- including two gold medalists -- confirm the presence of a performance-enhancing drug, according to media reports. The five face competition bans and the loss of their medals.

Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain tested positive for CERA, a drug developed to treat anemia. Ramzi won a gold medal in Beijing in the 1500m.

Four other athletes who tested positive for Cera last summer also have been confirmed by the second tests, according to Olympic sources.

A sixth athlete -- weightlifter Yudelquis Contreras of the Dominican Republic -- has been cleared after her "B" sample came back negative.

Traces of CERA were found in B samples from Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece, the 2004 gold medalist in the women’s 20km race walk. Tsoumeleka did not medal in Beijing.

Cyclists Stefan Schumacher of Germany and Italian Davide Rebellin, silver medalist in the men’s road race, also were found to have used CERA. Croatian 800m runner Vanja Perisic also tested positive.

The IOC will begin disciplinary hearings against the athletes that could see them lose their medals and prevent them from competing in London.

The samples were tested after the Beijing Games when methods of detecting CERA and other banned substances became available. Nearly 1000 samples were tested after the Games, primarily in endurance sports.

OCA: No Positives in Singapore

Nearly 200 tests, all negative. That’s the word from the Olympic Council of Asia about the recently-concluded 1st Asian Youth Games in Singapore.

Some 170 urine samples were collected from 1400 athletes. The tests covered all sports and 43 of 45 participating nations.

The AYG ran from June 29 to July 7.

WADA Calls Chambers’ Treatment Unfair

The director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency called the British Olympics Association’s handling of Dwain Chambers unfair.

David Howman was quoted by London’s The Daily Telegraph as saying "It does not feel right when you see he is still subjected to things that maybe others haven't. Is he subjected to those because he owned up? Sure he was a bad cheat. You shouldn't wear a nasty stain [because you owned up]. That's not fair.”

Chambers served a two-year ban from athletics for doping offenses. However, BOA rules dictate a lifetime ban.

"The BOA have a rule that I think only one other Olympic association has in the world," Howman said.

Chambers is competing at the trials for the athletics world championships in August. He unsuccessfully tried to change the BOA’s rule to allow him to compete in Beijing.

"We are concerned from a human point of view. He has been sanctioned and he has served his sanction and he should be able to go about his daily business untainted. That is normal human behavior for someone who has served their time.

"Fairness prevails and once you have served your time you are not subject to double jeopardy. That is a basic human, let alone legal, process. It is significant because if an athlete has cheated and is prepared to say what is going on, then we should be listening" Howman said.

Pechstein Denies Blood Doping

Five-time Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein of Germany is lashing out at the International Skating Union for her two-year ban for doping. Claudia Pechstein says she is innocent of doping charges. (Getty Images)

"There will be no blood bags and no syringes. There will be no other indications which will support the prodigious insinuation of the ISU. Why I am sure so? Quite simply because I am innocent and have not doped," Pechstein wrote on her website.

She claims the ISU offered her a deal to withdraw from the February skating world championships with an “illness” in exchange tor burying the doping case.

However, ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta rejected the allegation on Tuesday saying "it is not correct to accuse us of making a deal."

Pechstein will appeal the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Australian Government Overhauls Anti-Doping Body

A report in The Australian newspaper says Australian Minister for Sport Kate Ellis decided to overhaul the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

According the daily, the decision came about because ASADA is “distracted by internal power struggles.”

"As a priority, we will implement reforms to strengthen Australia's anti-doping body and ensure that Australia continues to be a world leader in the fight against doping in sport," Ellis said in a statement.

Findings from an independent review of the agency found tension between the CEO of ASADA and various members.

The report said ASADA had "built into it a tension resulting from a fusion of roles of chair and chief executive" which "fails to differentiate the leadership of ASADA members from the administration of ASADA's day-to-day operations".

Officials in ASADA should be released when their contracts expire, the report said.

Written by Ed Hula III.