Italian runner ‘used fake penis’ to beat dope test

The lengths to which athletes might go to beat drug controls took on a new dimension last week after an Italian runner was accused of employing a false penis to evade detection during a urine test.

 Long-distance runner Devis Licciardi is now being investigated by the country’s Olympic committee for allegedly planning to whip out the prosthetic, which was full of drug-free urine, and squirt that in the test bowl instead. Authorities say that Licciardi, an athlete for the Italian Air Force team, attempted the scam after the Italy’s 10km road race at Molfetta, near Bari, last Saturday. La Voce d’Italia website reported that officials caught him “in flagrante” with his plastic accoutrement.