Lausanne / Switzerland

On March 8, 9 and 18, 2016 the ISU confirmed that the following skaters were provisionally suspended following an Adverse Analytical Finding for Meldonium:

Ekaterina Bobrova (RUS) Figure Skating
Semen Elistratov (RUS) Short Track Speed Skating
Ekaterina Konstantinova (RUS) Short Track Speed Skating
Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS) Speed Skating

In the case of Meldonium, the WADA recognized that there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion time and considers that in certain circumstances there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete.

All mentioned above skaters credibly assured the ISU that they have discontinued the use of Meldonium prior to January 1, 2016, when the substance was included in the prohibited list. In light of the given information, the ISU has decided to lift the provisional suspension imposed on the four skaters, with immediate effect, to stay the results management process and consequently not to disqualify any results at the present stage.

In case later scientific studies should reveal that one or more listed skater took Meldonium also after December 31, 2015, the results management process would have to be resumed.

The ISU will not make any further comments until further scientific evidence is published.