The IOC’s war on doping cheats has claimed another victim in Russian 400 metres runner Anton Galkin and now Olympic officials have demanded to know the whereabouts of Adrian Annus, the Hungarian hammer thrower.
Galkin became the ninth athlete to produce a positive test when traces of stanozolol were found in his sample.
With a clutch of weighlifters also thrown out, two failures to submit to doping controls and the furore surrounding Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, the Athens Games already look set to be remembered mainly for drugs issues rather than sport.
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And the IOC, who have previously confirmed they are target-testing, are now focusing their attention on Annus, who shares the same coach as Robert Fazekas, Annus’ team-mate who has already been stripped of his discus gold medal for failing to produce a sample.
Annus has already declared his intention to retire amid claims he is being victimised.
But the IOC clearly have no intention of lifting the suspicion that surrounds him.
IOC president Jacques Rogge confirmed to AFP that the athlete was being sought by drug-testers.
Giselle Davies, the IOC director of communications said: “We have asked the Hungarian National Olympic Committee to notify us of the whereabouts of the athlete.”
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IOC sources believe there may be a possibility that Annus conned testers in Athens by providing a sample of urine that was not his own.
They now want to test the 29-year-old again to compare the genetic make-up of his urine with that submitted during official testing at the Olympics.
If the two samples do not match, Annus will be charged with an anti-doping violation and stripped of his gold medal, IOC sources told AFP.
Also today the Hungarian team were faced with yet another doping allegation. Reuters today reported Hungarian silver medallist Ferenc Gyurkovics has tested positive to a banned substance.
Gyurkovics, who won the silver medal in the 105kg weightlifting category, is believed to have tested positive for using the anabolic steroid, oxandrolon.
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Tamas Dolovai, the president of the Hungarian Weightlifting Federation, said Gyurkovics had been summoned to a meeting with IOC officials to discuss the positive test.
The IOC are aware of the negativity the drip-feed of doping cases is having on their event, particularly the saga of Kenteris and Thanou, who surrendered their accreditations on Wednesday 18 amid allegations of a string of no-shows.
The story has dominated local media coverage and last night’s 200 metres final - which Kenteris had been favourite for a month ago - had to be delayed by ten minutes as Greek supporters inside the stadium launched an ear-splitting vocal protest.
However, it has done nothing to deter the IOC in their fight against doping and the organisation remains resolute in their determination to stamp out the cheats.
“Sport is about passion and emotion,” Davies said.
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“Clearly there was some emotion in the stadium last night but sometimes you have to separate emotion from the facts.
“Our fight against doping is not for the public. It is to protect the clean athletes who respect the rules.
“Every time we catch someone who has been cheating, we regard it as a victory.”