Olympic champion Sadova fails dope test

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia's Natalia Sadova, who won the women's discus gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, has failed a drugs test, Russian media has reported.

Sadova, who will celebrate her 34th birthday on Thursday, won the event at Hengelo, Netherlands, where she tested positive for an unnamed banned substance after undergoing a test on May 28.

Reports Wednesday said Sadova refused control testing of her B sample, but denied she had taken any banned drugs.

Sadova also failed to pass a doping test at the 2001 world championships in athletics, where she tested positive for caffeine.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) shortly afterwards dropped caffeine from the list of banned drugs, leaving Sadova with her 2001 world title.

© 2006 AFP