Kim Jong Su of North Korea displays the bronze medal after taking third place in the men's 10-metre air pistol shooting event at Beijing Shooting Hall. (Issouf Sanogo/Getty Images)A North Korean shooter and Vietnamese gymnast are the latest athletes to be caught for doping at the Beijing Olympics.
Korean shooter Kim Jong Su was stripped of two medals on Friday, a silver in the 50-metre air pistol and a bronze in the 10-metre air pistol, and kicked out of the Olympics.
According to the IOC, the shooter tested positive for propranolol, a banned substance used to prevent trembling.
The 10-metre air pistol bronze goes to American Jason Turner. The 50-metre air pistol silver goes to China's Tang Zongliang, and Vladimir Isakov will get the bronze medal.
Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do was also kicked out of the Olympics after testing positive for the diuretic furosemide. She finished in last place in the women's floor exercise.
IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said both athletes had their accreditations revoked.
IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist said he thought Kim was guilty of "a deliberate intake" of a banned substance. Kim could face a two-year ban from the international shooting federation.
Ljungqvist said he thought the gymnast's use of furosemide was inadvertent.
"My interpretation is this was probably the result of poor information given to the athlete, who did not have the knowledge of what to avoid and what she was allowed to take," he said.
The IOC is conducting 4,500 doping tests in Beijing. On Monday, Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno tested positive for a banned substance and was kicked out of the Games.
"My interpretation is that this is a feature of increased awareness in the sports world that doping is unacceptable and you don't compete in the Olympic Games if you are doped," Ljungqvist said. "I feel the figures are rather encouraging."
He also commented on cycling specifically, saying “It's been clarified that the best way to support a sport that has a doping problem is not to throw it out but rather to help it."
"We hope we will be able to help the sport of cycling. We hope that Olympic cycling will be a cleaner sport than cycling in general is today. I'm hopeful for the sport in the future. They have to take strong action and I think everyone realizes that."
With files from the Associated Press
