Russian cyclist test dope-positive

Russian track cyclist Victoria Baranova has been expelled from the London Games after failing a pre-Olympics doping test.

Baranova reportedly tested positive for testosterone on July 24. The sample was taken at the request of the International Olympic Committee as part of its pre-Games testing program. Baranova, who has already left the games, admitted her guilt, the R-Sport news agency reports.Ranked No. 2 in her discipline by the UCI, she trained separately from the Russian team in the run-up to the Games. She won the keirin in the European junior track championships in Portugal last month.This is not the first drugs scandal to shake the Games in London. Also on Friday, Ivan Tsikhan, the Belarus medal hopeful in hammer throw, was withdrawn from his country’s team after it was announced that his 2004 doping sample had tested positive.Earlier this week, Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku tested positive for steroids, while Uzbek gymnast Luiza Galiulina was found to have taken a drugs masking agent.