Ex Olympic Champ Tests Positive for Erythropoietin

The former Olympic champion of the 20 kilometre walk, has just tested positive for the use of Erythropoietin.

Erythropoietin, commonly referred to as EPO, is a banned substance in professional sports, yet its use seems more wide spread now than ever.

Former champion, Athanasia Tsoumeleka, had a sample retested which was taken two days before the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Under the new guidelines from the World Anti-Doping Agency, samples taken can be stored and retested up to eight years later. This eight year periods allows for more rigorous testing in which newly pioneered testing methods can be used to detect doping cheats.

Tsoumeleka’s sample was taken on the 6^th August 2008, just prior to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

She competed at the Beijing games in the 20km walk and set a personal best of one hour 27 minutes and 54 seconds which was enough to claim ninth spot. Still, over three and a half minutes slower than the winner, Olga Kaniskina.

EPO is a blood booster that increases red blood cell count in the blood. This increase in red blood cells allows for greater transport of oxygen throughout the muscular system avoiding fatigue and increasing endurance.

Typically, this form of doping is only beneficial in endurance events like rowing, cycling and long distance events where greater stamina can be the difference.

The first reported case of EPO being used as a performance enhancing drug was during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Since then, this method of doping has increased and testing has intensified to eradicate cheating in sport.

As a result of her positive test for EPO,  Tsoumeleka officially announced her retirement from professional sports and denies “knowingly making use of this substance” when referring to the drug, EPO.

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