California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's past steroid use should not prevent him carrying the Olympic torch, the IOC says. (CBC)California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's past steroid use should not prevent him carrying the Olympic torch, the IOC says. (CBC)

The International Olympic Committee says that admission to steroid use shouldn't stop California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from carrying the Olympic flame.

Schwarzenegger is scheduled to run with the torch on Friday morning on the final day of the relay in Vancouver.

While IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said Wednesday he didn't know the details around the governor's past infractions, he presumed it was many years ago and the IOC accepted the idea that people can change.

Schwarzenegger said in a 2005 interview that he took steroids during his years as a champion body builder and didn't regret doing so as they were legal at the time and used under a doctor's supervision.

Schwarzenegger is now the respectable governor of the largest state in the U.S. and under those circumstances, the IOC was happy to have him carrying one of the most sacred emblems of the Olympics, Adams said.

During the Greek portion of the 2010 relay, Hellenic Olympic Committee officials were forced to apologize after it emerged that one of their torchbearers was an athlete who was kicked out of the 2008 Beijing Games for testing positive for steroids.