Olympic discus champ thrown out of Games
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-08-25 07:59

Hungarian Olympic discus champion Robert Fazekas will lose his gold medal and be expelled from the Games after being caught trying to tamper with a urine sample, an International Olympic Committee source said Tuesday.

The source also said Belarussian high jumper Aleksey Lesnichiy, who was last in the qualifying round, had tested positive for the anabolic agent clenbuterol.

Fazekas was spotted by officials trying to tamper with his sample after Monday's final.

Lithuanian Virgilijus Alekna will now be awarded the gold, Zoltan Kovago (Hungary) and Aleksander Tammert (Estonia) the bronze.

Hungarian Olympic Committee spokesman Dezso Vad said he was unaware of the IOC decision.

"We have heard that he could not give enough urine and he was there (at the doping control) until 0300 in the morning and he just could not give enough. That's the only thing we know and that the IOC was meeting to discuss this," he said.

"We have not received any official notification."

Officials at the Belarussian Olympic Committee in Athens said they were unaware of any failed dope test involving their athlete.

Fazekas is the second athletics gold medallist to forfeit his title at the Athens Games after a positive test.

Irina Korzhanenko of Russia was stripped of her women's Olympic shot put gold on Sunday after testing positive for a steroid.