Italian Fencer Andrea Baldini Tested Positive With Furosemide

Italian fencer Andrea Baldini will miss the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for a diuretic during last month's European Championships in Ukraine.

The urine test was conducted in Prague, Czech Republic, and showed the presence of the banned substance furosemide.

Baldini won a silver medal in foil at the 2006 and 2007 world championships and was considered a gold-medal candidate for Beijing.

He will be dropped from the team for the Olympics, which start next week, the Italian fencing federation said Friday.

Baldini told the news agency ANSA he "did not take anything," but the Italian federation could not confirm the comment. Baldini was to speak at a news conference in Milan later in the day.


The federation has not announced his replacement, but ANSA said it would be Andrea Cassara, a double medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics.