IOC suspends Uzbek gymnast over doping

LONDON (AFP) – Uzbek gymnast Luiza Galiulina has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned diuretic furosemide, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Sunday.

Galiulina underwent a drugs test on July 25, four days before the start of the women’s artistic gymnastics competition.

“Once the results of the B sample have been received, a definitive decision will be announced by the disciplinary commission,” said the IOC.

Like some other diuretics, furosemide is listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned drugs list as it can be used as a masking agent to disguise the use of other drugs.

It is the second case of doping at the London Olympics, after Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku tested positive for a banned steroid.

More than a dozen other athletes have already been expelled for pre-competition doping offences, but Pulaku, 19, was the first to fail a test since arriving for the Games.

Among the pre-Games doping casualties were Morocco’s Mariem Alaoui Selsouli, one of the favourites for the women’s athletics 1500m gold medal, who failed a test for a banned diuretic.

World anti-doping chiefs have unveiled a new test for human growth hormone, with a detection window of weeks rather than hours, which they hope will snare drug cheats at the Games.

A total of 15 athletes were caught doping at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the most at a Summer Games since the IOC began outlawing drugs at the 1968 edition in Mexico City.