Another doping case recorded in Asian Games
Another athlete from Uzbekistan tested positive for a prohibited substance in the ongoing Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
Olympic Council of Asia medical committee chairman Dr Mani Jegathesan identified the athlete as Jakhongir Muminov, who competed in Greco-Roman wrestling.
"The athlete has been disqualified from these Games and his performance has been nullified," he said on Wednesday.
Muminov competed in the 84kg category and lost in the quarter-finals.
Jegathesan confirmed that Muminov tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a substance used mainly as a decongestant.
Incidentally, it was the same drug used by another Uzbek athlete named Muminov, who tested positive last week.
Judoka Shokir Muminov was stripped of his silver medal and was thrown out of the Games after testing positive for the drug last week, the first recorded doping case in the Guangzhou Asian Games.
Officials are still determining if the two cases are related and Jegathesan has ordered a thorough investigation of the case.
"We've instructed the relevant National Olympic Committee to try to investigate and find the source of this substance to prevent similar occurrences in the future," he said.
The tests were conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency's laboratory in Beijing, which also carried out tests during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Methylhexaneamine, which was considered as a banned substance only recently, was the same drug taken by Nigerian sprinter Osayomi Oludamola that led to her disqualification in last month's Commonwealth
Games in India. Oludamola was stripped of her 100m gold as a result. Six Indian wrestlers and three swimmers also tested positive for the drug ahead of the Games.
At the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Uzbek weightlifters Elmira Ramileva and Alexander Urinov tested positive for a banned substance. The two, along with two other weightlifters from Myanmar, were suspended and
thrown out of the Games.
Tags: