ROME (AP) — The 2008 Olympic race walk champion who was expelled from the London Games for doping broke down in tears Wednesday while discussing how he hid the banned substance in the home he shared with star figure skater Carolina Kostner.

Alex Schwazer said Wednesday he bought the blood booster EPO in Turkey and kept it in a box of vitamins in a refrigerator.

Schwazer had hoped to replicate his feat in the 50-kilometer event in London but was tossed from the games Monday after testing positive.

At a news conference in Bolzano in northern Italy, Schwazer wept and at one point buried his face in his hands. He says he learned how to use EPO through the Internet.

He denied getting the performance-enforcer from Michele Ferrari, the Italian doctor who in 2002 was banned by the Italian Cycling Federation and who also was a consulting physician for cycling champion Lance Armstrong.