Iranian skier Hossein Saveh Shemshaki has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance.
Drug-testing officials have announced the first suspension of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics after an “adverse analytical finding” in a sample from Iranian alpine skier Hossein Saveh Shemshaki.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) announced that the 36-year-old will be ineligible to compete in China while the case is ongoing.
“The athlete has been informed of the case and has been provisionally suspended until the resolution of the matter in line with the World Anti-Doping Code and the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,” the organization said in a statement.
“This means that the athlete is prevented from competing, training, coaching, or participating in any activity, during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,” it added.
Shemshaki returned the adverse finding for an anabolic steroid in a test on Monday, and can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and request for a ‘B Sample’ to be analyzed.
The slalom and giant slalom skier is one of only two Iranian athletes set to represent their homeland at this year’s Games in China, along with female skier Atefeh Ahmadi.
Shemshaki competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and in the Russian resort of Sochi four years later, where he was his nation’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Both he and Ahmadi carried the flag at this year’s ceremony in Beijing.
Image credit: By MrInfo2012 – Hossein Saveh Shemshaki, CC BY-SA 4.0
