CAS confirms suspension of three athletes from Rio Olympics

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed today the suspension of three athletes from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for testing positive in doping controls.

The three athletes are Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi, Bulgarian athlete Silvia Danekova, and Polish weightlifter Tomasz Zielinski, whose cases had already been reported by their respective federations or Olympic committees in recent days.

The CAS anti-doping division, established in Rio to promptly resolve conflicts, thus issued its first ruling in the framework of the Olympics.

Swimmer Chen Xinyi was provisionally suspended after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide, as informed by CAS. Xinyi willingly accepted the sanction and the final resolution of her case will be made before the end of the Games, the sports tribunal indicated.

Xinyi, 18, tested positive in a test conducted on August 7, previously announced the Chinese swimming federation through the state agency Xinhua. The swimmer, who finished fifth in the 100m butterfly on Sunday, was scheduled to compete in the 50m freestyle tomorrow.

The other two athletes, on the other hand, have already been excluded from the Games.

Tomasz Zielinski, European weightlifting champion and Olympic medal contender, was dropped from his country's team after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone in a test conducted on July 31.

Zielinski, competing in the 94kg category, was the European champion in 2016 and the runner-up in 2014. His brother Adrian Zielinski won gold in the 85kg category at the 2012 London Olympics.

Danekova, a specialist in hurdles, underwent an anti-doping test on July 30, just after settling in the Olympic Village. She tested positive for a substance that stimulates erythropoiesis by simulating the production of red blood cells.

The 33-year-old athlete was scheduled to compete in the 3,000m hurdles tomorrow, but she has been suspended and will not be able to run. The athlete told bTV that she will end her professional career.

The three cases are the first doping cases within the Olympic testing period, which started with the opening of the Olympic Village on July 24. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that it will conduct around 5,500 tests during the Games.