Olympic Champion Schwazer Caught Doping Again
Italian race walker Alex Schwazer, 41, who won the German national championship in the 35 km event in April with a new record, has been provisionally suspended after EPO was found in his samples. This marks his third doping violation.
Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency announced on Monday the provisional suspension of 41-year-old Italian race walker Alex Schwazer after both his urine and blood samples tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO). Schwazer had competed in the German national championship in the 35-kilometer distance in April, winning with a new national record.
At a press conference, Schwazer protested his innocence, saying: "I am innocent, but I will not defend myself because I no longer have the energy for it. I haven't taken anything, but I have lost faith in the system."
This is not the first doping case for Schwazer. Prior to the 2012 London Olympics, he received a 45-month ban after admitting to EPO use. Before the 2016 Rio Olympics, he was handed an eight-year suspension for anabolic steroids, which he attributed to a laboratory error.
