Meldonium Found in 49 out of 52 Positive Doping Tests of Russian Athletes

Meldonium was found in 49 out of 52 positive tests for doping submitted by Russian athletes from February 15 to May 29, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said in an updated report released Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Meldonium was added to WADA’s list of banned substances on January 1. In April, WADA said that less than one microgram of meldonium per millilitre in a doping test would be permissible in samples submitted before March 1, 2016.

Some 455 tests of Russian athletes were carried out by the UK anti-doping agency UKAD during this period, the report said.

According to the report, in addition to the meldonium-positive tests, one athlete was found positive for meldonium and tuaminohetane at the same time. Another athlete was found using stanozolol, and one other tested positive for nandrolone. All these substances have been banned by WADA.

In November 2015, WADA presented a report, accusing Russia of numerous breaches of global anti-doping regulations and recommended the country be banned from international athletics competitions, which then led to the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) suspension from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

In March, a number of prominent Russian athletes were tested positive for meldonium, medicine added to the list of banned substances on January 1, 2016 by WADA.