Europe's International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief was arrested Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro over an alleged international Olympic ticket sales scam, police said. City police acted to "carry out an arrest warrant and search warrant against Patrick Joseph Hickey, from Ireland, a member of the International Olympic Committee," police said in a statement. "He was arrested," a spokesman confirmed. Hickey, 71, head the the Olympic Committee of Ireland, which would only say that it was "seeking total clarity on the situation before we comment further." Brazilian media reports said Hickey was arrested at a hotel for Olympic officials in Rio's posh Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, near the main Olympic sites. He reportedly fell ill during his arrest and was taken to hospital. The arrest follows earlier operations by police against what they say is an international ticket scalping ring. The head of the sports hospitality company THG Sports — which was licensed to resell London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic tickets — was arrested on charges of illegal sales. Hickey's son Stephen used to work at THG. Rio police said they had confiscated about 1,000 tickets that were being sold far above face value, mostly for popular events like the opening ceremony. Some appeared to be marked with the name of the Olympic Committee of Ireland. Russia stripped of 2008 relay gold Russia was ordered Tuesday to return its gold medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics 4x100m women's relay after Yulia Chermoshanskaya tested positive for a banned substance in a re-analysis of her sample. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified her for testing positive for steroid use. "The Russian Federation team is disqualified from the women's 4x100m relay. The corresponding medals and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned," the IOC said. Her relay teammates in that competition were Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina and Yevgeniya Polyakova. Belgium finished second in the race and Nigeria won bronze. The IOC requested the world athletics federation (IAAF) to modify the results of the event and to consider any further action. A total of 98 samples were positive in reanalysis of samples from both the Beijing Games and the 2012 London Olympics. [caption id="attachment_78075" align="alignright" width="229"] New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin (R) and United States' Abbey D'Agostino greet after competing in their 5000m heat during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Rio Olympics Tuesday. — AP[/caption]Runners given final berth after crash drama Two Olympic athletes who helped each other across the finish line after an accidental mid-race collision in the women's 5,000m have been granted places in the final, organizers confirmed. Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino were praised for their sporting behavior after they clashed during Tuesday's heat. The drama unfolded when American runner D'Agostino clipped New Zealander Hamblin with around 2,000m to go, sending both sprawling to the ground. As Hamblin lay on the track distraught, her hopes for an Olympic medal seemingly evaporated, D'Agostino tenderly helped her to her feet and encouraged her to finish the race. "I went down, and I was like, ‘What's happening? Why am I on the ground?' Then suddenly this hand on my shoulder, like ‘Get up, get up, we have to finish this' and I was like, ‘Yup, yup, you're right. This is the Olympic Games. We have to finish this,'" Hamblin said. "I'm so grateful for Abbey for doing that for me. That girl is the Olympic spirit right there. "I've never met her before, like I've never met this girl before, and isn't that just so amazing? Such an amazing woman." D'Agostino suffered an ankle injury in the collision, but Hamblin deliberately hung back in the field to offer encouragement as the two women completed the race. Initially it looked as if both women, and a third runner involved in the collision — Jennifer Wenth of Austria — had failed to qualify for the final. However a statement by Olympic organizers late Tuesday said all three had been advanced to the final Friday.
