RIO DE JANEIRO Polish weightlifter Tomasz Zielinski and his brother Adrian were thrown out of the Rio Olympics after testing positive for banned substances, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Friday.
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The Chinese Swimming Association said Chen Xinyi tested positive for the substance without providing specifics.
But track and field’s dented reputation was hit by the announcement that Danekova had failed a doping test of her own, with Bulgarian television saying she tested positive for the blood booster EPO. She was also scheduled to compete in the 50 freestyle beginning Friday.
Although not directly performance-enhancing, diuretics are banned due to their use as masking agents to hide the presence of other products.
“The CSA has taken this matter seriously and demanded full cooperation from Chen in the investigation”, the association said in the statement quoted by Xinhua.
Controversies over doping overshadowed the build-up to Rio and, far from dying down as events got under way, have flared anew as USA and Australian competitors have branded their Russian and Chinese rivals drug cheats.
Efimova was allowed to compete at the Games only after winning an appeal against a ban for a previous doping offence.
The Associated Press attempted to reach the Chinese Swimming Association for comment about the test, but didn’t receive an answer. Miami was told previous year that it could no longer admit Sun Yang* to its facilities after he tested positive for a banned substance in 2014. She is the first swimmer to be banned during an Olympics since 1992. Four tests were done, three of them were negative.
Irish boxer Michael O’Reilly and Greek swimmer Theodora Gianeni have also withdrawn from the Games after being notified of failures on arrival in Rio, along with two weightlifters, Cyprus’ Antonis Mastasdis and Poland’s Tomasz Zelinski.
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The country’s Sports Ministry confirmed no anti-doping tests were carried out between July 1 and July 24, a move described by WADA as “unacceptable”.
