Spanish Figure Skater Becomes Fourth Olympian To Fail Drugs Test

Laura Barquero, a Spanish figure skater, has become the fourth Olympian to fail a doping test.

The 20-year-old pair skater tested positive for clostebol, a prohibited substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said in a statement yesterday, February 22. According to Clinical Chemistry, clostebol is 'a synthetic androgenic steroid with anabolic effects that is frequently used in sports to increase physical performance'.

'The sample was collected by the ITA under the testing authority and results management authority of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during an in-competition anti-doping control on 18 February 2022 during the Pair Skating (short program),' the statement reads.

'The athlete has been informed of the case. She has the right to request the analysis of the B-sample. The matter will thereafter be referred to the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) for adjudication under the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Olympic Games Beijing 2022 (IOC ADR),' it adds.

'Given that the case is underway, there will be no further comments during the ongoing proceeding.'

Barquero placed 11th alongside her partner Marco Zandron in the pairs event during the games, marking their first-ever Olympics.

Doping controversies piled up during the games, with Russia's teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva being permitted to compete in the singles skating event even after it emerged that she'd tested positive for a banned substance — trimetazidine, a form of heart medication — at the Russian national championships in December last year.

Lawyers for Valieva said the positive test was the result of mix-up with 'a product her grandfather was taking', Denis Oswald, the International Olympic Committee's chair of the disciplinary commission, told AP.

While some skaters described the decision to allow the teen to compete as 'a slap in the face to the Olympic Games', Irina Slutskaya, a Russian two-time Olympian, said, 'They broke her. That’s what they wanted, and they achieved it.'

Three other athletes also failed doping tests: Ukrainian cross-country skier Valentyna Kaminska and bobsledder Lidiia Hunko; and Iranian alpine skier Hossein Saveh Shamshaki.

Kaminska, who tested positive for mesterolone, was 'provisionally suspended' and prohibited from 'competing, training, coaching, or participating in any activity'. Hunko, who tested positive for dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone, was also suspended after placing 20th in the monobob.

Shamshaki, who tested positive for an anabolic steroid in an out-of-contest test, was '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'.

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