Australian Tallent dismisses Schwazer doping defence

Jared Tallent of Australia celebrates after crossing the finish line to get the second place in the 50 kilometres race walk at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Rome, Italy, May 8, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Olympic race walk champion Jared Tallent has given short shrift to Alex Schwazer's protests of innocence after the Italian's latest positive drugs test.

Schwazer, who won the 50km gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, returned a positive result for a steroid, the Italian athletics federation said on Wednesday, six weeks after he returned from a near-four year doping ban to win the world title in Rome.