print


New Zealand athletes Beatrice Faumuina (women's discus) and Valerie Adams (women's shotput) have moved up in their Athens Olympic Games rankings after the IOC announced the disqualification of a number of 2004 medal winning athletes. Four athletes' stored samples had been subject to further analysis and resulted in adverse analytical findings. They were Yuriy Bilonog (1st, mens shot put; Ukraine), Svetlana Krivelyova (3rd, womens shot put; Russia), Ivan Tsikhan (2nd, mens hammer throw; Belarus), and Iryna Yatchenko (3rd, womens discus throw; Belarus). The disqualifications pave the way for Faumuina to move from seventh to sixth place and Adams from eighth to seventh. This is the second move in position for Adams after an earlier decision stripped the original Athens Olympic gold medallist of her place at the Olympic Games. New Zealand Olympic Committee Secretary General Kereyn Smith says she is pleased to see the fight against doping continue. "Athletes today know that their results will be kept tested as technology improves. We trust increasingly tough sentences and stringent anti-doping testing regimes will work towards ensuring our athletes can compete on an even playing field." The New Zealand Olympic Committee is also monitoring progress in the case against Belarus shotput athlete Nadzheya Ostapchuk who initially won gold at London 2012. She was disqualified from the event for doping violations paving the way for New Zealand's Adams to presented with the Olympic gold medal. The matter is being reviewed by the IAAF Doping Review Board after which a decision regarding Ostapchuk's sanction will be applied.

Athens 2004 Olympic Summer Games Valerie Adams Beatrice Faumuina
Tweet Share