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Athletics

Blonska stripped of heptathlon silver medal

22/08/2008

Ukrainian heptathlete Liudmyla Blonska has been stripped of the silver medal she won at the Beijing Olympics and faces a lifetime ban from athletics.

Blonska, who had already served a two-year suspension for testing positive for a banned substance in 2003, was found to have provided an illegal sample after her performance earlier this week.

It remains to be seen if she will now be handed a lifetime ban for committing a second offence, although such an outcome seems likely.

The 30-year-old finished the Olympic heptathlon ahead of the United States' Hyleas Fountain, Tatiana Chernova of Russia and Britain's Kelly Sotherton.

Fountain and Chernova are now likely to be promoted into medal positions.

Sotherton, who was beaten by Blonska for second place at last year's world championships, says the Ukrainian's performance always seemed suspicious.

The Briton said: "I'm totally not surprised by the news.

"I've been saying all along that she got caught doping when she was scoring 6,300 points, how can she not be doping and scoring 6,800?

"I have not seen any of her results since early June and then she comes out here and is producing good performances, which was suspicious."

Blonska was the fifth athlete to test positive for a banned substance during the Beijing Games.