MOSCOW (AP) — World champion Russian speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov‘s coach says the athlete has failed a doping test for meldonium, the same drug found in tennis star’s Maria Sharapova‘s sample at the Australian Open.
The 21-year-old Kulizhnikov has won five world championship gold medals since the start of 2015. He is also world record-holder in the 500 meters.
Coach Dmitry Dorofeev did not say when or where Kulizhnikov tested positive for meldonium, which has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances since Jan. 1.
He tells Tass news agency that Kulizhnikov had used meldonium while it was legal and “hasn’t been taking it for a year.