Women shot put champion stripped of Olympic gold medal

Gold medallist Belarus' Nadzeya Ostapchuk (middle), silver medallist New Zealand's Valerie Adams (L) and bronze …more medallist Russia's Evgeniia Kolodko (R) hold their medals in the women's shot put victory ceremony

Olympic shot put gold medal winner Nadzeya Ostapchuk has been stripped of her title after failing a doping test, the International Olympic Committee has confirmed.

The Belarus athlete tested positive for anabolic agent metenolone during in-competition testing on August 5 and 6 and has been disqualified from the final results.

The gold medal is instead awarded to Valerie Adams of New Zealand, with Russia's Evgeniia Kolodko now taking silver and Lijiao Gong of China elevated to bronze.

An IOC statement read: "The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that it has disqualified, withdrawn the medal from, and excluded Belarus's Nadzeya Ostapchuk (athletics, women's shot put) from the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London.

 "The athlete was first requested to provide a urine sample for a doping control on 5 August. She competed the next day in the women's shot put event, where she placed first, and was asked to provide a sample straight after her competition.

"Both samples indicated the presence of metenolone, which is classified as anabolic agent under the 2012 Prohibited List."

On Monday, Ostapchuk denied any wrongdoing, saying she would fight to clear her name.

"To be honest I don't know all the details because I just got this information myself from the internet," the 31-year-old told local media in Minsk.

"It's a complete shock to me because I was tested on July 30 (before going to London). It showed I was clean," she said, adding that she would wait for the Belarusian delegation to return from London before deciding what to do next.

"In total, I've been tested 16 times since April. You must be a complete idiot to take doping just before the competition especially such an outdated drug as a steroid, knowing you're going to be tested not once but probably several times."

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