Source: China Daily

08-12-2008 10:56

Special Report:   2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno has become the first competitor at the Beijing Olympics to fail a drug test, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Monday.

Moreno, better known as Maribel Moreno, had been entered for the women's road race and individual time trial and tested positive for the endurance-boosting EPO drug.

IOC spokesperson Giselle Davies said Moreno was tested on July 31 and left the city on the same evening. The IOC officially took control of drug testing on July 27.

President of the Sapnish Cycling Federation Fulgencio Sanchez reacts during a press conference after Spanish cyclist Maria Isobel Moreno became the first athlete to fail a doping test at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing.
President of the Sapnish Cycling Federation Fulgencio Sanchez 
reacts during a press conference after Spanish cyclist Maria 
Isobel Moreno became the first athlete to fail a doping test at 
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing.

Davies said Moreno, 27, had been stripped of her Games accreditation and the matter had been referred to the International Cycling Union (UCI).

The IOC said it expected between 30 and 40 positive drug tests during the Aug 8-24 Games and has boosted the number of Games-related drug tests to more than 4,500.