31 Athletes from 2008 Beijing Olympics Test Positive for Doping

Nearly eight years after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday that 31 athletes from six sports tested positive for doping upon retesting of their samples, although their names have yet to be revealed.

The athletes could be banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics following the retesting of a total of 454 samples from Beijing.

An additional 250 samples from the 2012 Summer Games in London will be retested as well.

IOC President Thomas Bach explained the reasoning behind the committee's decision to conduct retests just months before the 2016 Olympics:

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All these measures are a powerful strike against the cheats we do not allow to win. They show once again that dopers have no place to hide. The retests from Beijing and London and the measures we are taking following the worrying allegations against the laboratory in Sochi are another major step to protect the clean athletes irrespective of any sport or any nation. We keep samples for ten years so that the cheats know that they can never rest. By stopping so many doped athletes from participating in Rio we are showing once more our determination to protect the integrity of the Olympic competitions, including the Rio anti-doping laboratory, so that the Olympic magic can unfold in Rio de Janeiro.

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The IOC's latest stance against doping comes days after a New York Times article written by Rebecca R. Ruiz and Michael Schwirtz in which former Russian anti-doping laboratory director Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov described an elaborate scheme that saw Russian athletes' dirty urine samples get replaced by clean ones in covert fashion at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Further investigation regarding the Russian anti-doping laboratory was also announced as part of the IOC's initiative.

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