Much of the build-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics was overshadowed by the Russsian doping scandal and the ugly spectre of performancing enhancing drugs has continued to taint events, even ones that finished eight years ago. On Wednesday the IOC announced that six more athletes have been disqualified from the 2008 Beijing games after retests of their samples proved to be positive.

The disqualified athletes include one from track and field and five from weightlifting. Russia's Tatyana Firova won silver in the 4x400 meter relay, but now she and her team must return their medals and see their result erased after Firova tested positive for two banned substances. Her sixth place finish in the 400 meter has also been disqualified.

Samples from the 2012 London Olympics are also being reexamined and earlier this year, the IOC said that up to 55 athletes from the two previous Summer games could be retroactively disqualifed.

The five other weighlifters whose results are being annulled are another Russian silver medalist, Marina Shainova, two bronze medalists - Nadezda Evstyukhina of Russia and Armenia's Tigran Martirosyan, and two ninth place finishers - Alexandru Dudoglo of Moldova and Intigam Zairov of Azerbaijan.