Athletics: Russian discus medallist suspended

MOSCOW: Russia’s Olympic women’s discus silver medallist Darya Pishchalnikova was suspended yesterday for failing a doping test that preceded the Olympic Games in London, Russia’s Anti-doping Agency RUSADA reported on its official site.

The 27-year-old was suspended – backdated to October 31 – by the sport’s ruling body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, after she failed a doping test on May 20 this year where traces of an oral anabolic steroid was discovered.

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, her A sample returned a positive test. It is her second offence as she received a two year ban for manipulating doping samples along with six other Russian athletes in 2008.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2012.