Second Ukrainian tests positive for banned drug at Olympics
Strongwoman-turned-bobsledder Lidiia Hunko has become the second Ukrainian to fail a drugs test at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games this week, the International Testing Agency (ITA) has announced.
The 28-year-old, who is a former world champion deadlifter, was tested by the ITA during an in-competition anti-doping control check on Monday, when she finished 20th in the women's monobob.
A World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited (WADA) laboratory in Beijing reported that Hunko tested positive for dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone, which is a substance on WADA's Prohibited List.
The ITA confirmed that Hunko has been informed of the case and is now provisionally suspended pending a further investigation.
#Beijing2022 - The ITA reports that a sample collected from bobsleigh athlete Lidiia Hunko (Ukraine) has returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for DHCMT metabolite.▶️ https://t.co/fJohZYZ2GCpic.twitter.com/P5lcR10ljZ
— International Testing Agency (@IntTestAgency) February 17, 2022
Hunko finished second in the 2016 World's Strongest Woman contest, winning her deadlift title in the same year.
She won at the iconic Arnold Classic competition, which was originally founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger, in 2017.
Ukraine made Hunko the first female bobsledder to represent the country at the Winter Games and the first Ukrainian woman to receive a bobsleigh quota place for the competition.
Hunko finished 21st at the monobob world championships in Altenberg, Germany in 2021, and a third-placed finish in a World Monobob Series event in Winterberg on January 14 guaranteed her an Olympic spot.
Hunko has the right to challenge the suspension before the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) Anti-Doping Division and request analysis of the B-sample.
Two of the three competitors to return positive tests in Beijing hail from Ukraine after Hunko's compatriot cross-country skier, Valentyna Kaminska, also tested positive for three banned substances earlier this week.
Iranian Alpine skier Hossein Saveh-Shemshaki failed a drugs test last week. All three cases have detected traces of a steroid.
The most high-profile anti-doping case at Beijing 2022 has involved Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) figure skater Kamila Valieva.
The 15-year-old tested positive for banned drug trimetazidine, which is used to treat angina, on December 25 at the Russian national championships.
The results of her sample did not surface until February 7, after she had helped the ROC win gold in the team event. The delay is thought to have been the result of a mix-up at a Stockholm laboratory that suffered a Covid outbreak, according to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).
On Monday, CAS ruled that Valieva should be allowed to continue competing at the Games amid objections from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), WADA and the International Skating Union (ISU), who wanted RUSADA's lifted suspension to be reinstated.
The delay in receiving Valieva's test results was a factor in the decision by CAS, who also cited the "irreparable harm" that could have been caused to the European champion if she had been sent home. Her status as a minor also offered her protection under WADA's code.
Valieva had been favorite to win gold but finished fourth in the singles competition following a disappointing free skate program performance on Thursday.
Russian Anna Shcherbakova won gold, with countrywoman Alexandra Trusova clinching silver.
The Games continue until February 20 2022.
