Russian swimmer Vitalina Simonova has been slapped with a four-year doping ban after testing positive for testosterone, swimming’s governing body FINA announced.
The 23-year-old, a silver medallist in the 200m breaststroke at the 2013 European short course championships, failed an out-of-competition test in June of last year.
Simonova will serve a retroactive suspension that dates back to June 29, 2015 and will run until June 28, 2019, with all of her results achieved after the positive test annulled.
Her ban is the latest to hit Russian sport after the country’s athletics programme was suspended by the IAAF following revelations of massive, state-sponsored doping.
Tennis star Maria Sharapova is also appealing a two-year ban after she was one of a number of high-profile Russian athletes to test positive for meldonium.
Yulia Efimova, Russia’s 100m breaststroke world champion, had her provisional suspension lifted by FINA in May after she too returned a positive test for meldonium, but swimming’s governing body is still looking into her case. – Agence France-Presse
