Nicholas Delpopolo (Matt Kryger-USA TODAY Sports)
LONDON (USA TODAY) - U.S. judo athlete Nicholas Delpopolo has tested positive for marijuana and has been disqualified from the London Olympics by the IOC, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced Monday.
In a statement, Delpopolo, 23, said he inadvertently ate a baked good that contained marijuana before he left for the Olympics.
"I apologize to U.S. Olympic Committee, to my teammates, and to my fans, and I am embarrassed by this mistake. I look forward to representing my country in the future, and will re-dedicate myself to being the best judo athlete that I can be," he said in a statement.
He is the first of the 10,500 athletes competing in London to receive a doping violation for an in-competition test. There have been four other doping offenses based on tests taken before the Games.
Delpopolo, who is from Westfield, N.J., and lives in Amsterdam, N.Y., was on a flight to the U.S. on Monday. He finished competing July 30, losing in the repechage round of the 73-kilogram weight class by yuko to Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal of Mongolia. Delpopolo finished seventh.
This is the second doping offense involving U.S. athletes who had made the Olympic team for London. Before the Games, Stephany Lee was held off the Olympic wrestling team after testing positive for tetrahydrocannabinol acid, a marijuana metabolite, in a sample collected April 21 at the Olympic trials in Iowa City, Iowa.
It was Lee's second doping violation.
USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said the organization is committed to clean competition and stringent anti-doping penalties. "Any positive test, for any banned substance, comes with the appropriate consequences and we absolutely support the disqualification," he said in a statement. "We look forward to witnessing the continued success of our athletes and commend their dedication to clean sport."