The International Olympic Committee has revealed it will retest 5,000 doping samples from the Beijing Games to check for traces of a new blood-booster drug.

The IOC said its doping lab in Switzerland would be specifically testing for Cera, an advanced version of endurance-enhancing hormone EPO.

The decision comes after French officials detected Cera during retesting of Tour de France samples.

However, it is thought the retests will cover all sports, not just cycling.

IOC president Jacques Rogge explained: "Our message is very clear. The IOC will not miss any opportunity to further analyse samples retroactively.

"We hope that this will work as a strong deterrent and make athletes think twice before cheating."

The decision was welcomed by a...  Read More

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