Spanish cyclist caught doping

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-12 08:48

In the first official doping case of the Beijing Olympics, Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno was kicked out of the games yesterday after testing positive for EPO.

Moreno, who was to compete in the women's road race and individual time trial, was tested in the athletes' village on July 31 and left China later the same day before learning the result, the International Olympic Committee said.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said Moreno's sample came back positive for EPO, a blood-boosting hormone that enhances endurance and has been at the center of numerous doping scandals in cycling in recent years.

The IOC expelled Moreno from the Games, revoked her accreditation and asked cycling's world governing body to follow up for any further sanctions. Athletes found guilty of doping typically get a two-year ban.

Eugenio Bermudez, secretary general of the Spanish cycling federation, said Moreno's backup "B" sample was tested on Sunday night.

The 27-year-old Moreno is the first athlete caught under the IOC's Beijing drug-testing program, which began with the opening of the Olympic village July 27 and runs through the end of the games on Aug 24.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/12/2008 page2)