Athletics: Steroid cheat thwarts Kiwi Valerie Adams

The disqualification of women's Olympic shot-put champion Irina Korzhanenko came too late for New Zealand's Valerie Adams.

Adams was yesterday elevated from ninth to eighth place after Korzhanenko was banned for failing a drugs test. Had she made the top eight in the final held at ancient Olympia, Adams would have been entitled to a further three throws.

Two of her rivals produced their best efforts in the last round, including Cuban Yumileidi Cumba, who has now seen her silver medal turn to gold.

With top-eight finishes, Adams and discus-thrower Beatrice Faumuina, who finished seventh, are the best-performed of the seven New Zealand track and field athletes at the Games.

Adams missed a place in the top eight at last Wednesday's competition by just 3cm.

Korzhanenko, the only competitor to throw more than 20m, tested positive to the steroid stanozolol - the substance that cost Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson his 100m gold at Seoul in 1988.

The 30-year-old Russian, who returned her positive sample straight after the final, is no stranger to failed drugs tests.

In 1999 she was stripped of her silver medal at the world indoor championships. That two-year suspension ended her hopes of competing at the Sydney 2000 Games.

Russian administrators were shocked by the news.

"Nobody can believe that this is actually happening," said Russian Olympic Committee spokesman Gennady Shvets.

The head of the committee's anti-doping body, Nikolai Durmanov, said: "We are very disappointed." There had been a drive to clean up Russian sport, he said.

World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound welcomed the bust.

"If we got another one, that's great," he said. "It shows you can't go to ancient Olympia and screw around and expect to get away with it."

Uzbekistan shot-putter Olga Shchukina had tested positive to the steroid clenbuterol in a pre-Games screening.

Korzhanenko's "winning" throw was the first over 21m by a woman shot-putter in four years.

The world record of 22.63m was set by Russian Natalya Lisovskaya in 1987. The Olympic record was set by East German Ilona Slupianek in 1980 at 22.41m.