FILE - the Aug. 22, 2008 file photo shows Italy's Alex Schwazer, right, leading Yohan Diniz of France on his way to winning the gold medal in the men's 50-kilometer walk during the athletics competitions near the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Italian Olympic team said Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 that defending 50k walk champion Alex Schwazer tested positive for doping. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inoue)
FILE - the Aug. 22, 2008 file photo shows Italy's Alex Schwazer, right, leading Yohan Diniz of France on his way to winning the gold medal in the men's 50-kilometer walk during the athletics competitions near the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Italian Olympic team said Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 that defending 50k walk champion Alex Schwazer tested positive for doping. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inoue)
FILE - The Aug. 22, 2008 shows Italy's Alex Schwazer as he wins the men's 50-kilometer walk during the athletics competitions in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Italian Olympic team said Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 that defending 50k walk champion Alex Schwazer tested positive for doping. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
FILE - The Sept. 1, 2007 file photo shows Italy's bronze medal winner Alex Schwazer cooling himself in the Men's 50km Race Walk at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan. Italian Olympic team said Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 that defending 50k Olympic Racewalk champion Alex Schwazer tested positive for doping. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
LONDON (AP) ? Defending Olympic 50K race walk champion Alex Schwazer was caught doping in Italy and will miss the London Games.
The Italian Olympic Committee, also known as CONI, said Monday that Schwazer had been removed from the team.
CONI President Gianni Petrucci said Schwazer had admitted to doping on what was a "bitter day" for Italian sports.
Earlier Monday, the team said an unidentified athlete had failed a doping test conducted for the World Anti-Doping Agency before arriving in London. Details of the offense were not given.
The 27-year-old Schwazer was set to defend his 2008 Olympic title in the 50-kilometer walk on Saturday. Schwazer won gold at the Beijing Games in an Olympic record time of 3 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds.
His doping confession Monday meant "one less medal but more cleaning" house, Petrucci told Italian state television.
Schwazer's agent, Gloria Mancini, told The Associated Press that his entourage had no idea he was doping.
"We are bitterly surprised," Mancini said in a telephone interview. "Especially since this is an athlete who has always condemned doping in the strongest terms."
The Italian athletics federation said it was notified of Schwazer's doping test results on Monday afternoon.
"While fully agreeing with CONI's choice, (the federation) expresses deep disappointment for what happened, underlining its strong stance of condemnation against every form of doping," it said in a statement.
Schwazer also had entered last Saturday's 20K walk, but withdrew citing a cold, according to the official London Olympics website.
The two-time world championships bronze medalist works as a police officer, according to his biography on the site. He is one of the best known athletes in the 286-member Italian team at the London Games.
Schwazer's profile has been raised at home because his girlfriend, Carolina Kostner, is the reigning women's figure skating world champion.
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Associated Press writer Maria Sanminiatelli contributed to this report.
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