LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The Russian men’s quadruple sculls team has been disqualified from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for a doping violation, and will be replaced at the games by New Zealand, world rowing’s ruling body announced Thursday.
The World Rowing Federation says that trimetazidine, a banned substance, was found in a urine sample given by rower Sergei Fedorovtsev in an out-of-competition test on May 17.
He competed a week later at the final Olympic qualifying regatta in Switzerland, where Russia finished first to qualify for Rio.
As Fedorovtsev, who won a gold medal in quadruple sculls at the 2004 Athens Olympics, had provided a positive doping test, the federation said that “the results of all competitions in which the rower participated after 17 May 2016 are therefore automatically disqualified.