Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis added the host nation's embarrassment on Sunday when he was stripped of his bronze medal after failing a drugs test. Photo by Getty Images.
Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis has been stripped of his bronze medal after testing positive for twice the allowed amount of testosterone.
This is the first time in the 28th Olympics that a medal is taken away from an athlete.
Sampanis himself denied any wrongdoing. "Honestly, I can say that for the last 10 years, the time that I have been a weightlifter, I never used this kind of drug," he said.
His bronze medal is the first to be withdrawn at the Games and it had been the first in Athens for the host nation.
The IOC executive board met early on Sunday to rule on the case, which shocked Greece days after its top sprint pair withdrew after missing eve-of-Games dope tests.