Eight months have passed since the Beijing Summer Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee continues to be informed of positive drug tests by athletes.

The latest round came Tuesday with six Olympians fingered after the retesting of their event samples.

This includes two medallists — one gold medal winner in men's track and field and a medallist in cycling, an IOC official told The Associated Press.

Overall, the tests caught three track and field athletes, two cyclists and one weightlifter. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the names of the athletes haven't been released yet.

According to the IOC, seven tests involving the six athletes came back positive for CERA, an advanced version of the blood-boosting drug EPO.

The IOC did not officially name the athletes or sports involved, saying it was notifying the athletes through their national Olympic committees. The Italian Olympic Committee said one of the positive samples belonged to one of its male athletes, who was left unidentified.

"Due to the presumption of innocence, the IOC will not comment on any individual case," the committee said.

The IOC reanalyzed a total of 948 samples from Beijing after new lab tests for CERA and insulin became available after the Olympics.

'Clear message'

The testing, which began in January, focused mainly on endurance events in cycling, rowing, swimming and track and field.

"The further analysis of the Beijing samples that we conducted should send a clear message that cheats can never assume that they have avoided detection," said Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC medical commission.

The IOC will wait for word from the national Olympic bodies before holding any disciplinary hearings.

Athletes found guilty of doping face being disqualified from the Olympics and stripped of any medals they have won. In the meantime, national and international bodies are free to impose provisional suspensions of athletes, the IOC said.

The Italian Olympic Committee said its athlete had been informed along with the committee's anti-doping prosecutor. Italian officials said they had not been authorized by the IOC to identify the athlete.

A Greek race walker, Athanasia Tsoumeleka, announced in January that she had tested positive in the new Beijing checks. Tsoumeleka, who finished ninth in Beijing in the 20-kilometre walk, was charged by a Greek prosecutor earlier this month with using banned drugs.

The IOC previously disqualified nine athletes for doping at the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. In addition, there were six doping cases involving horses in the equestrian competition.

The IOC is storing doping samples for eight years so they can be tested retroactively when new detection methods are developed.

With files from The Associated Press