LONDON, England, March 3- World governing body, IAAF is set to reveal that some of the top athletes who competed in the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki are drug cheats.
This is after urine samples that have been held in frozen storage were re-tested by the governing body.
Nick Davies, the IAAF deputy general secretary, confirmed that “hundreds” of re-tests had been carried out on samples provided at the championships, resulting in several positive cases.
He promised a “big announcement” in the near future when the identities of the athletes will be revealed, though two Russian women have already been unmasked by the Russian anti-doping agency.
Olga Kuzenkova, who won gold in the hammer in Helsinki but who has since retired from athletics, faces being stripped of her title while long jumper Tatiana Kotova could forfeit her silver medal.
Kotova is still competing but has been provisionally suspended pending the outcome of the disciplinary process.
Davies said other athletes “in the low single figures” had returned positive results.
It is not clear at this point whether Kenyans are involved with the Helsinki Worlds being the worst outing for the nation where only Benjamin Limo won gold in the men 5000m.
