BEIJING - A recent rise in positive drugs tests before the Beijing Olympics is the result of a deliberate strategy by the International Olympic Committee to rid the Games of cheats, IOC President Jacques Rogge said on Saturday.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge speaks during a news conference in Beijing August 2, 2008. [Agencies]

Rogge said 17 athletes who tested positive only weeks before the August 8-24 Games were proof that the IOC's "zero tolerance" policy on drugs was bearing fruit.

"This is the result of a deliberate strategy and policy," Rogge told reporters. "These are 17 cheats who will not falsify the competition."

In the past few days alone, seven Russian athletes and an Italian fencer were banned from the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

"We are working with the international federations to step up tests before the Games," Rogge said.

Federations were told by the IOC to maximise their doping tests, and many national Olympic committees have said they would also test their athletes before they go to Beijing.

The IOC will carry out about 4,500 doping tests in Beijing, the largest number of tests at an Olympics.

They include a new and improved test for the once undetectable human growth hormone (HGH).

"This is a deliberate action and I am glad to see that it is a successful one," Rogge said.