ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Russia's Irina Korzhanenko, who won the Olympic shot put last Wednesday, was stripped of her gold medal Monday because of drug use.
Korzhanenko was awarded the gold medal in a unique competition at Ancient Olympia, but the International Olympic Committed ordered Russian officials to return that medal.
The Russian shot putter served a two-year ban beginning in 1999 for another doping violation.
A spokesman from the Russian Olympic Committee said Korzhanenko tested positive for the steroid stanozolol. A test is administered to all athletes who win medals.
Stanozolol, a prohibited anabolic steroid, is the same drug that cost Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson his gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Korzhanenko becomes the second athlete to be stripped of a medal. Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was also sent home from the games.
Yumileidi Cumba Jay of Cuba now takes home gold in the shot put, while Nadine Kleinert of Germany gets the silver and Russia's Svetlana Krivelyova, a teammate of Korzhanenko, wins the bronze.
