23 athletes from London Olympics test positive for illegal doping

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 27 (UPI) -- Athletes from five sports and six countries who competed in the 2012 London Olympics failed retroactive doping tests, the International Olympic Committee announced Friday.

The IOC retested 454 selected samples from athletes and said 23 of them tested positive. A further 454 samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics were also tested.

The samples remain available for testing for 10 years after they are taken so the latest scientific methods can be applied. The current retest focuses on competitors likely to attend the 2016 Olympics this summer in Rio de Janeiro.

"These reanalyses show, once again, our determination in the fight against doping. We want to keep the dopers away from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. This is why we are acting swiftly now. I have already appointed a disciplinary commission, which has the full power to take all the decisions on behalf of the IOC," IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.

The names of the 23 athletes were not released.

Last week it was announced that 31 other athletes from the London games tested positive after a reanalysis, and Russia confirmed 14 of its athletes in the 2008 Beijing games tested positive.

One, Russian high jumper Anna Chicherova, who won a bronze medal in Beijing, commented, "It's the most complete shock. I can't explain how it could have happened. I was always sure what supplements and medicines I was using."

Russia's entire track and field team is suspended from international competition since an independent commission found widespread and systematic doping of athletes. The International Association of Athletics Federations, the world governing body for track and field, will decide on June 17 whether to continue the ban.