ROME (AP) — Italian race walker Alex Schwazer says he obtained the performance-enhancing drug EPO on his own and used it because he felt pressure to win a second straight 50-kilometer walk gold medal at the Olympics.
Schwazer, who was expelled from the games on Monday for doping, sobbed on Italian TV on Tuesday. He insisted he won his gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics without the use of drugs. He says he “wanted the gold again at all costs.”
Schwazer says he learned how to use EPO via the Internet, and that the last three weeks after the doping test were “terrible” because he knew the results would be positive.
He says he is “sorry.”
