Russian Women’s Youth Handball Team Stripped of Silver Medal

The European Handball Federation ruled on Friday to annul silver medals of the 2017 European Championship from the Russian women’s youth handball team (under-19) for violations of anti-doping regulations.

Doping samples of three players from the Russian team tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, TASS reported.

According to the EHF decision “all three players will be suspended for a period of 20 months from participating in any handball activities.”

The EHF stated that doping samples provided by three players tested positive for banned performance enhancing drug meldonium (mildronate) which was included in the list of preparations banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency from January 1, 2016.

The presence of the meldonium substance in the athlete’s blood during and between competitions is a violation of anti-doping rules. The substance belongs to S4 class on the WADA blacklist (hormones and metabolic modulators). Meldronate is a cardiovascular medication freely available for purchase at pharmacies across Russia without a doctor’s prescription.