23 athletes may be banned from Rio Games because of new evidence of doping at 2012 Olympics

Olympic rings in London
(Image credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Drug test results stemming from the London 2012 Olympic Games may end up pushing as many as 23 athletes out of the upcoming Games in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Friday. After retesting 265 doping samples from London using more advanced methods than were available at the time, the IOC says it has found athletes from five different sports and six different countries to possibly be guilty of doping.

The latest results come on the heels of last week's announcement that, after retesting 454 doping samples from the 2008 Games in Beijing, 31 athletes had tested positive. The IOC says there may be more results in coming weeks, too, as retests continue. "We want to keep the dopers away from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro," IOC president Thomas Bach said. "This is why we are acting swiftly now."

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