Monday 21 March 2016 15:17, UK
Russia's athletics chief has revealed that four Russian track-and-field athletes have tested positive for the banned drug meldonium.
Nadezhda Kotlyarova, a silver medallist in the 4x400m relay at the 2013 European Indoor Championships, revealed on Sunday that she had failed a drug test at last month's Russian Indoor Championships in Moscow, although she protested her innocence.
And Dmitry Shlyakhtin, head of the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF), has now said that a total of four Russian athletes have tested positive for meldonium, but he did not confirm Kotlyarova as one of the quartet.
"We have information that four people gave positive tests for meldonium. We will deal with this today," said Shlyakhtin on Monday morning.
Andrei Minzhulin, who won the 5,000m at the Russian Indoor Championships last month, subsequently announced that he was one of the four athletes who had tested positive.
Minzhulin said he stopped taking meldonium in November but it remained in his system.
"I admit the fact of taking meldonium, but I took the substance when it was not considered doping and stopped taking it in good time," he said.
Grindeks, the Latvian manufacturers of meldonium, have claimed the drug can remain in the human body for several months.
"Terminal elimination from the body may last for several months," said spokeswoman. "It depends on a variety of factors such as dose, duration of treatment ... type of samples (blood or urine) used for detection of the substance."
Meldonium hit the headlines earlier this month when Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova announced she had tested positive for the drug.
At least 15 other Russian sportsmen and women, including speed skating Olympic gold-medallist Semion Elistratov, have been caught using meldonium since it was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency on January 1.
The burgeoning scandal is complicating Russia's drive to prove it is compliant with anti-doping standards after it was suspended from international athletics competitions last year following revelations of widespread cheating and corruption.
If it cannot get the suspension lifted, Russian athletes will miss the Olympics which start in Rio de Janeiro on August 5.
Shlyakhtin has insisted, though, that the latest positive meldonium tests will not further complicate the situation around his federation.
"It won't aggravate [the situation], it's complex anyway," he said.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko also claimed the positive tests in Russian athletics were not related to preparations for the Olympics.
"A monitoring system for athletics is under way and working normally," he said. "Everyone who is preparing for the games is being monitored. But the issue of meldonium is a separate issue."
