Thursday, October 9, 2008; Page E02 The International Olympic Committee announced yesterday that it will take the unprecedented step of retesting some blood samples collected during the Summer Games in Beijing to look for a recently discovered oxygen-aiding drug. Though the step shows the IOC's determination to weed out cheating athletes, it is unlikely to result in droves of positive tests since the new drug -- known as CERA (Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator) -- had been discovered by anti-doping scientists well before the start of the Aug. 8-24 Summer Games. French anti-doping officials announced during the Tour de France in July that cyclist Riccardo Ricco had tested positive for the substance, resulting in a torrent of publicity about CERA and its misuse. On Tuesday, the International Cycling Union confirmed...
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