Olympics 2012: Nadzeya Ostapchuk Loses Gold Medal Following Failed Doping Test

Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus failed a doping test during the Olympics and will lose the gold medal she won in the shot put, according to Tom Bryant of The Guardian. Valerie Adams of New Zealand will be awarded the gold instead.

The report states that Ostapchuk was tested twice during the London Games, and both tests came back showing metenolone, one of the substances that is banned by the International Olympic Committee. This forced the IOC to take away her medal.

Ostapchuk has been one of the most accomplished shot-putters in recent years, winning gold at the World Indoor Championships and European Championships in 2010. She had not finished worse than third in the event since 2006, which includes a bronze medal at the Beijing Games four years ago.

Her winning shot of 21.36 meters easily landed her in first place. Four of the Belarusian athlete's six throws would have been good enough to finish in gold-medal position.

Doping and the use of performance enhancing drugs never became a major story during the Olympics, which is a positive sign in the continued struggle to stay ahead of the curve and ensure all athletes are on a level playing field during competition.

Unfortunately, things will end on a negative note due to Ostapchuk's stripped medal. The report included comments from Adams, who was happy the system worked properly to allow her to claim gold.

"

I am speechless with this news. It is taking me some time to take this in. It is also encouraging for those athletes like myself, who are proud to compete cleanly, that the system works and doping cheats are caught.

"

Along with Adams getting elevated to gold, Yevgeniya Kolodko of Russia moves up to silver and China's Lijiao Gong goes from not getting a medal at all to bronze.