| Watch over 50 IAAF Events Live and On-Demand at WCSN.com |
ROME -- Agencies are reporting that Romanian middle distance runner Liliana Popescu has been dropped from the country's Olympic squad after failing a drug test.
The 26-year-old Popescu, currently the world leader in the 1500m, failed a doping test at the African Grand Prix meet in Algiers, on May 29. The banned substance has not been identified, nor has her B sample been tested, but Romanian Olympic Committee officials nonetheless removed her from the team.
According to an Agence France-Presse report, Romanian athletes face a stiff 100,000 euro ($156,000) penalty if they test positive at the Olympic Games. According to the country's Olympic committee, Popescu was removed from the team because officials don't want any athletes suspected of cheating to compete in Beijing.
Popescu, who was sixth in the 1500m at the World Indoor Championships in March, has produced the finest season of her career. A few days prior to the Algiers meet, she clocked career bests of 1:59.34 and a world-leading 4:00.35 at a national grand prix meet in Bucharest. She won the 1500m at the Super Grand Prix in Doha, Qatar, on May 9, and the 800m at the European Cup First League competition in Istanbul late last month.
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
