By: Ahmed Fathi
An additional athlete has been suspended following reports that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance.
Iranian Alpine skier Hossein Saveh Shemshaki has been provisionally suspended from competition following a positive drug test at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, according to the International Testing Agency (ITA).
Saveh Shemshaki has tested positive for a metabolite of dehydrochloromethyl testosterone, according to the International Tennis Association.
ITA, the organization in charge of managing drugs testing at the Games, said the sample was collected on February 7, 2022, in Beijing, China, during an out-of-competition anti-doping control conducted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under its testing authority and results management authority.
"The result was announced on February 9, 2022, by the Beijing laboratory, which is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
"It has been brought to the athlete's attention that she has been provisionally suspended until the situation has been resolved in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and the International Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Rules that will apply to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
During the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the athlete will be unable to compete, train, coach, or participate in any other activity because of this sanction.
Saveh Shemshaki has the right to fight the temporary suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport — Anti-Doping Division, according to the International Tennis Federation.
He has the option of requesting an analysis of the B-sample.
Saveh Shemshaki was a member of a two-person delegation to the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022.
The 36-year-old raced in slalom and giant slalom events at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Sochi, but has yet to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
He was one of two Iranian Alpine skiers that carried the Iranian flag at the Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony on Friday (February 4), the other being Atefeh Ahmadi.
Saveh Shemshaki had previously carried Iran's flag at the Vancouver 2010 Closing Ceremony as well as the Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony. He is a member of the Iranian Olympic Committee.
It comes after Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old Russian figure skater, tested positive for a cardiac drug that was previously banned before the Games.
The adverse test has the potential to cost Russia the gold medal in the team competition, as well as Valieva's participation in the individual competition, which begins on Tuesday.
Russian athletes are compete in the Beijing Games under the auspices of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), after the country was barred from participation in the 2014 Sochi Olympics due to a huge state-sponsored doping scheme.
The sample in question was taken before Valieva won the European title last month, according to a report published late Wednesday by the RBC daily.
According to the Russian publication Kommersant, the substance discovered was trimetazidine, a metabolic agent that is indicated for the treatment of angina and vertigo in patients.
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, it is prohibited because it has the potential to improve blood flow efficiency and boost endurance.
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