Alex Schwazer

Alex Schwazer is an Italian race walker from Sterzing in South Tyrol, born on 26 December 1984. He first drew attention at the 2005 World Championships, where he took the bronze medal in the 50 kilometre walk in an Italian national record time, and he won bronze in the same event at the 2007 championships. His greatest result came at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he won the 50 kilometre walk and set a new Olympic record. In 2010 he broke an Italian record in the 20 kilometre walk at Lugano and took silver in that distance at the European Championships. Schwazer was expelled from the 2012 Olympics after an out-of-competition test showed the blood booster EPO, admitted guilt and retired, then returned to training with the anti-doping campaigner Sandro Donati. A 2016 test for testosterone led to an eight year ban upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, although an Italian criminal court acquitted him in 2021 and he has contested the ban since.