Bulgarian runner withdraws after doping

updated 11:59 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2008

BEIJING - Bulgarian middle-distance runner Daniela Yordanova has tested positive for testosterone and will not compete at the Beijing Olympics.

Team spokesman Todor Shabanski said the 1,500-meter runner was on the verge of flying to Beijing but stayed behind after the result became known.

“It was confirmed,” Shabanski said. “She has withdrawn from the Olympics and will not be traveling to Beijing.”

The 32-year-old Yordanova was fifth in the 1,500 at the 2004 Athens Games and was the bronze medalist at the 2006 European Championships.

Yordanova tested positive in a June 13 out-of-competition test in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.

Athletics has been desperately trying to clean up its sport in the runup to the Olympics, after being involved in a spate of doping scandals that undermined its popularity over the past years.

Seven Russian women were provisionally suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations two weeks ago in the doping scandal. They included Yelena Soboleva, a world record-holder and world champion middle-distance runner who was favored to win the 800 and 1,500 at the Beijing Olympics.

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