Testing Positive: Four Russian Athletes Burned By New Meldonium Ban

Russian athletes have not passed new Meldonium drug test during a national championship, a source familiar with the situation told R-Sport on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Four Russian track and field athletes tested positive for the recently banned substance Meldonium during a national championship in late February, a source familiar with the situation told R-Sport on Monday.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned the anti-ischemic drug on January 1, 2016, due to evidence it was being used to enhance performance.

Several top athletes, including tennis star Maria Sharapova, have recently tested positive for the substance.

R-Sport quoted Russian sprinter Nadezhda Kotlyarova disclosing on Sunday she had requested anti-doping regulators to unseal and analyze her second sample after the first sample had detected 25 nanograms of Meldonium.

Meldonium is a Latvian-made drug used in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to treat heart conditions, diabetes and other ailments.

WADA classifies the substance a metabolic modulator that increases athletes' endurance and shortens post-exercise rehabilitation time, as well as enhances the activation of the central nervous system.