ROME – Alex Schwazer, a 31 year old Olympic race-walker from the Alto Adige region, has once again tested positive for doping, the Gazzetta dello Sport reports.

 The Italian athlete has previously been found guilty of taking performance-enhancing drugs, namely testosterone, after being subjected to an anti-doping test during his Christmas holidays among his family.

 At the time, Schwazer was still under previous disqualification for doping and the test was being taken prior to his return to competitive sport. Although a lot remains to be clarified, the most recent analysis is anything but normal: the results came back negative after an initial test in January but following a re-test at the end of April, Schwazer tested positive for testosterone.

 Testosterone is a particularly complex drug to analyse, therefore the Wada laboratory in Colonia, one of the most reputed drug-testing laboratories of the world, has carried out two different methods of analysis to reach conclusive results.

 Schwazer, who returned to win the 50-kilometre event at the world championships in Rome in May and who won Gold in the 50-kilometre race at the 2008 Beijing Games, has expressed anger at these latest results. Having broken down in tears when his involvement in performance-enhancers was revealed in a news conference back in 2012, it appeared that the athlete had taken on board the severity of the allegations and was on track to compete fairly and in honesty.

 As it stands, these latest allegations not only reflect a significant blow for the athlete’s professional career but also puts in jeopardy his hopes to make a comeback in the RioOlympics this year.

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