Uzbek, Philippine cyclists suspended after failed drugs tests in Asian Games

October 5, 2023 - 12:41 PM
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Ariana Evangelista (arianaevangelista02/Instagram)

 Uzbek cyclist Aleksey Fomovskiy and Philippine mountain biker Ariana Evangelista have tested positive for banned substances at the Asian Games and were provisionally suspended, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said.

Fomovskiy, 22, finished fifth in the men’s omnium track cycling final on Sept. 28 and sixth in the road time trial race on Tuesday.

Evangelista, 27, was the last to finish the women’s mountain bike race on Sep. 25.

Fomovskiy returned an “adverse analytical finding for anabolic androgenic steroids” during an in-competition test performed on the day of the omnium final, the ITA said.

Evangelista had returned adverse findings for erythropoietin (EPO) from blood and urine samples collected in an out-of-competition test on Sept. 24.

The two cyclists can request the analysis of their B-samples and their cases have been referred to the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport for adjudication under the OCA Anti-Doping Rules, the ITA said.

The ITA runs testing at the Games.

Neither the Olympic Council of Asia nor the Hangzhou Games organizing committee were able to provide an immediate comment.

The cyclists are the third and fourth athletes to have been announced as failing drugs tests at the Games.

Saudi Arabian distance runner Yousef Mohammed Alasiri and Afghanistan boxer Mohammad Khaibar Nooristani have also been suspended for failed tests. Though unlike the cyclists, they did not compete at Hangzhou.

– Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard; Editing by Peter Rutherford