ROME — Italian fencer Andrea Baldini will miss the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for a diuretic during last month's European Championships in Ukraine.

The 22-year-old Baldini, who won silver in the foil at the 2006 and 2007 World Fencing Championships, will be dropped from the team for the games which start next week, the Italian fencing federation said in a statement today.

The urine test was conducted in Prague, Czech Republic, and showed the presence of banned substance furosemide.

The Italian federation has requested the "B" sample be analyzed, and announced it was starting its own investigation.