Živilė Balčiūnaitė (born 3 April 1979 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

) is a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n long-distance runner. Balčiūnaitė finished 4th at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. She also competed in the same event at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, finishing 14th. She finished 11th at the 2008 Olympics.

Biography

In April 2011, the

Athletics Federation of Lithuania Athletic Federation of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos lengvosios atletikos federacija) is the national sporting organisation recognised by the Lithuanian sports commission for athletics activity in Lithuania. Founded at 1921. Federation president is f ...

announced Balčiūnaitė has been banned for two years for a positive drug test and will be stripped of her gold medal from Barcelona. Balčiūnaitė has said she is innocent and said the positive drug test was a result of a drug prescription by her

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

, however the anti doping rules state that every athlete is responsible for their own medical use.

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balciunaite, Zivile 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Vilnius Lithuanian female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Lithuania Lithuanian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Lithuanian female marathon runners