US Olympian expelled after testing positive for marijuana he 'accidentally' ate

GlobalPost

American judo fighter Nicholas Delpopolo was expelled from the Olympic Games on Monday after testing positive for marijuana, the Associated Press reported.

Delpopolo said he accidentally ate the drug before arriving in London. He is the first athlete at the London Olympics to fail an in-competition doping test, the AP wrote. Four other athletes were caught before competition began.

He insisted he had not known the food contained the banned substance, the BBC reported. 

The International Olympic Committee said Delpopolo "indicated that he was embarrassed by this mistake" and apologized to the United States Olympic Committee and his team-mates.

More from GlobalPost: Usain Bolt is (still) the fastest man in the world

The BBC wrote the 23-year-old had finished seventh in the men's 73kg competition and was tested after he lost to Mongolian Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal in the repechage stage.

[View the story "US judo fighter Nick Delpopolo expelled from Olympics after testing positive for marijuana" on Storify]
Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.