IOC bans 16 athletes for doping in 2008 Beijing Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Thursday that it banned 16 athletes for failing anti-doping tests at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Though none of the 16 athletes are gold medalists, three were forced to forfeit their silvers and seven gave up their bronzes. All tested positive for various steroids.

And apparently, the IOC has been working on banning these athletes for more than a year.

"To provide a level playing field for all clean athletes at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the IOC put special measures in place, including targeted pre-tests and the re-analysis of stored samples from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and London 2012, following an intelligence-gathering process that started in August 2015," according to the IOC.

Of the 16 banned athletes, five are from Kazakhstanian, four are Russian and three are Ukrainian. Two hail from Azerbaijan, while Greece and Belarus round out the list with one athlete apiece. Nine of the 16 athletes are weightlifters, three are wrestlers and the final four competed in various track and field events.

For a full, detailed list of the 16 athletes, check out this statement from the IOC.