MOSCOW: Olympic high jump champion Anna Chicherova is one of 31 athletes whose doping samples came back positive in retests from the 2008 Beijing Games, the Russian athlete’s coach said on Tuesday.

Coach Yevgeny Zagorulko told Russian state news agency Tass that Chicherova had been notified of the positive sample following the retests by the International Olympic Committee.

“Three days ago, Anna received a notice that her doping sample from the Beijing Olympics tested positive after a re-check and she called me,” Zagorulko said.

“So far, this is at the development stage and this has not yet been finally confirmed. But all are aware of this and are dealing with the issue.”

The IOC said last week that 31 athletes could be barred from this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after being caught in the reanalysis of Beijing samples. It said the athletes came from six sports and 12 countries, but declined to give names, citing legal reasons.

Tass also quoted an unidentified Russian Olympic Committee source on Tuesday as saying it has been notified that 14 Russian athletes were among those suspected of doping in Beijing, most of them in track and field.

The IOC and track and field’s governing body said they could not comment because the investigation was ongoing.

The IOC has said athletes’ ‘B’ samples would be retested in early June. A formal positive case is not declared until the ‘B’ sample confirms the original finding.

Chicherova won the high jump bronze medal in Beijing, clearing a personal best 2.03 metres to finish behind winner Tia Hellebaut of Belgium and Blanka Vlasic of Croatia. Another Russian, Yelena Slesarenko, finished fourth.

If Chicherova is found guilty of doping, she could be stripped of her Beijing medal.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2016