Olympics: Albanian weightlifter is 1st doping casualty

IOC confirms 19-year-old has been excluded from the Games.

LONDON:

Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku has become the first athlete caught doping at the London Olympics after failing a test for a banned steroid.

Pulaku tested positive for stanozolol in London on July 23, said the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Two Turkish weightlifters have also been kicked out of the Games after failing pre-competition tests.

“The IOC announced that weightlifter Hysen Pulaku from Albania has been excluded from the Games of the 30th Olympiad in London,” said an IOC statement. The 77kg competitor, 19, becomes the 10th weightlifter caught doping at an Olympic Games since 2000. European silver-medallist Fatih Baydar and Ibrahim Arat were expelled from Turkey’s squad after failing dope tests on July 7.

About a dozen other athletes have also been barred in the lead-up to the Games for pre-competition doping offences.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2012.