The protection of clean athletes and the fight against doping are top priorities for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement. To provide a level playing field for all clean athletes at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the IOC put special measures in place, including targeted pre-tests and the re-analysis of stored samples from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and London 2012, following an intelligence-gathering process that started in August 2015.

As part of this process, the IOC today announced that Anna Chicherova has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008. The details follow.

Anna CHICHEROVA, 34, of the Russian Federation, competing in the women’s high jump event, has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, in which she ranked third and was awarded the bronze medal. Re-analysis of Chicherova’s samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (turinabol).

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Gunilla Lindberg and Uğur Erdener, decided the following:

The Athlete, Anna CHICHEROVA:

is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation pursuant to the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008,

is disqualified from the women’s high jump event in which she placed third upon the occasion of the Olympic Games Beijing 2008.

has the bronze medal, the diploma, and the medallist pin obtained in the women’s high jump event withdrawn and is ordered to return these.

The IAAF is requested to modify the results of the above-mentioned event accordingly and to consider any further action within its own competence.

The Russian Olympic Committee shall ensure full implementation of this decision.

The Russian Olympic Committee shall in particular secure the return to the IOC, as soon as possible, of the medal, the medallist pin and the diploma awarded in connection with the women’s high jump event to the Athlete.

This decision enters into force immediately.

The additional analyses on samples collected during the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and London 2012 were performed with improved analytical methods, in order to possibly detect prohibited substances that could not be identified by the analysis performed at the time of these editions of the Olympic Games.