Cuban discus thrower stripped of her Beijing Olympic silver after failing retroactive drug test

Lausanne: Cuban discus thrower Yarelys Barrios has been stripped of her Olympic silver medal from the 2008 Beijing Games after failing a retroactive drug test, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_2986790” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Cuba’s Yarelys Barrios posing on the podium with her silver medal during the women’s discus medal ceremony at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. AFP[/caption] Barrios, 33, and Qatari track and field athlete Samuel Adelebari Francis, 29, both tested positive for banned substances in tests originally taken at Beijing 2008. Barrios, 33, won silver in the discus in Beijing. She tested positive for the diuretic and masking agent acetazolamide, and has now been ordered to return her medal. She also won bronze in London 2012. Nigeria-born Francis, who now represents Qatar, finised 16th in the 100m event. The former Asian 100m champion tested positive for the banned substance stanozolol. “The IAAF is requested to modify the results … accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence,” the IOC said in a statement. Ukrainian Olena Antonova won the discus bronze medal in Beijing behind Barrios, with China’s Song Aimin finishing fourth. Several hundred samples taken from athletes in Beijing 2008 and London 2012 have been retested at the request of the IOC. Of those 98 tested positive including 60 for Beijing.