April 25, 2016 (Moscow, Russia) – The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has lifted a temporary suspension imposed last month on cross-country skier, Kirill Vichuzhanin, for the banned performance-enhancing drug meldonium according to Tass, a Russian news service, citing the skier’s father.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced on April 13 that the concentration of less than one microgram of meldonium in the body system of an athlete, whose doping tests were conducted before March 1.

Meldonium (trade name: Mildronate) is primarily produced by Latvian-based pharmaceutical company Grindeks for treating angina and other cardiovascular complaints. On January 1, 2016, WADA added meldonium to its list of banned substances. There is some question as to how long traces of meldonium remain in the body.

Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko admits that some 40 other Russian athletes have recently tested positive for meldonium. The list of such athletes includes: Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova; Swedish Ethiopian-born middle-distance runner Abeba Aregawi; Ethiopian long-distance runner Endeshaw Negesse; Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov; as well as Ukrainian biathletes Olga Abramova and Artem Tyshchenko reports Wikipedia.

Tass (English) here.

Our earlier report here.