Olympic walk champion Alex Schwazer fails dope test, faces life ban

Italy's 2008 Olympic 50km race walk champion Alex Schwazer, who returned from a doping ban to win the world championship title last month, has tested positive again for a banned substance, Italy's athletics federation said on Wednesday.

"There has been a notice of a violation," a spokesman said but could not confirm newspaper reports that the positive was the result of a re-test of a January sample, taken after Schwazer had qualified for the Rio De Janeiro Olympics.

Schwazer, who also won the European 20km title in 2010, served a ban of three years nine months after admitting using the blood-booster EPO in 2012 and now faces a life ban from the sport.

An assistant to one of his coaches said Schwazer would hold a news conference later on Wednesday.