Italian Race Walking Champion Alex Schwarzer Failed Pre-Olympic Drug Test

On Monday, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) pulled Italian 50km race walking champion Alex Schwarzer out of competition in this year's Olympics due to an "adverse result" on his doping drug test.

Schwarzer was due to compete on Saturday in the race walk, an event in which competitors must keep one foot on the ground at all times. On the 30th of July, before leaving for London, he tested positive in a World Anti-Doping Agency test for Erythropoietin (EPO), which heightens aerobic capacity by increasing the concentration of red blood cells.

A beloved Italian athletic hero and boyfriend of world champion figure skater Carolina Kostner, Schwarzer set a new world record in the 50km race walk during the Beijing Olympics when he won gold with a time more than a minute faster than Russian Vyacheslav Ivanenko's 1988 record.

In March, Schwarzer set a new Italian record in the 20km race walk, but after suffering from influenza last month, he pulled out of the Olympic 20km to conserve his strength for the 50km.

In response to the doping charges, he said "I wanted to be stronger for this Olympics".