Russian breaststroke star Yuliya Efimova, who tested positive for meldonium back in March, has demanded that the laboratory in Salt Lake City be fully investigated after they reported a negative test that was later found to be positive.
Efimova was tested five times between February 15th and March 5th, with four of the five tests coming back positive. The test on February 15th (analyzed in Montreal), and the tests on February 24th, March 3rd, and March 5th (all analyzed in Los Angeles) all came back positive. The other test, taken on March 2nd and analyzed in Salt Lake City, surprisingly came back negative.
Efimova was then handed a temporary suspension and asked for additional information about the Salt Lake City laboratory after their unexpected negative test. Salt Lake City Laboratory Director Dr. Daniel Eichner responded to Efimova confirming that the laboratory ” was indeed carried out screening tests on meldonium 1,582,651. We conducted the necessary positive and negative test provided in this case. The sample is negative on meldonium “.
 The response from Eichner came on April 2nd, and then on the 15th FINA responded after Efimova requested her suspension be lifted (roughly translated from Russian):
“- One of the samples (taken March 2, 2016 and analyzed in the laboratory in Salt Lake City) it was negative and did not contain banned substances after 1 March 2016; – was not given any explanation. Why sample taken March 2, 2016, was negative, but other samples taken before and after March 02 were positive; – in accordance with Rule 3.2.1 the FINA, WADA-accredited laboratory shall analyze samples and all relevant procedures in accordance with the International standard for laboratories and such laboratories are reliable and appropriate means to establish a violation of anti-doping rules; – the fact that the negative doping tests turned out to be among the four positive results, at first glance, indicates the use of a banned substance after January 1, 2016 year; – to clarify WADA light, positive test results after negative tests may indicate that the reception was a banned substance after 1 January 2016 “.
 Thus, the main reason FINA refused to remove the suspension was the presence of the negative doping test amongst the four positive tests. This indicates the use of a banned substance after January 1st, 2016, as a negative test among positive test indicates that the athlete must still be taking the drug at the time of the test.
On May 20th FINA unexpectedly lifted Efimova’s suspension after hearing that WADA had requested a re-analysis of samples from the Salt Lake City lab. On June 3rd WADA accredited the negative test that came out of the Salt Lake lab positive: “revised result of negative doping test and reported that” A “is your sample contains meldonium”.Â
So the test that was originally reported negative, coming out of Salt Lake City, was re-analyzed and found to be positive.
If the test taken on March 2nd hadn’t been originally reported negative the situation would have unfolded very differently. Efimova’s suspension would have been removed on April 15th, thus allowing her to compete at the Russian Olympic Trials beginning on April 16th.
Efimova, obviously frustrated with the Salt Lake City lab that reversed their mistake said: “The laboratory in Salt Lake City somehow “correct” result, but it does not help me to turn back time and take part in the Russian Swimming Championships, which started on April 16, 2016 and qualify for the Olympic Games without performing any additional conditions. “
 It has become clear that the Salt Lake City lab did not act in accordance with the International Standard for Laboratories and was unable to provide valid and reliable results of the sample analysis.
Efimova continued: “Such negligence committed by the laboratory in Salt Lake City, not only violated the provisions of ISL 2015, but caused irreparable harm to me, because of a false negative result of the laboratory, my temporary suspension was not lifted in time and I lost the chance to qualify for the Olympic games at the national championship. This means that it is not just a “false-negative”, it should be seen as a “false-positive” when assessing the compliance of the laboratory in Salt Lake City Status ISL 2015 “.
 Efimova formally requested for WADA and the IOC to:
- immediately suspend the activities of the laboratory in Salt Lake City, in accordance with the provisions of the ISL 2015 ISL June 2016;
- declare immediately a full-scale investigation into the activities of the laboratory in Salt Lake City for the last time, including, double-check the negative and the positive results of doping tests, and to appoint a truly independent commission, giving it broad powers to determine the level of misconduct laboratory;
- to publish publicly the findings of the independent commission on completion of the investigation, as a result of this investigation should be considered as a priority in the fight for the purity of the sport, providing all the necessary evidence. “
Efimova then sums up her view of the situation:
“It is obvious that after my story with false-negative sample surfaced, one can not trust any results obtained by the laboratory staff in Salt Lake City, at least, the results of related meldonium. The only way to restore this trust – a public inquiry of the laboratory in Salt Lake City, which can be carried out both by law enforcement and disciplinary bodies, revealing and putting forward the charges of a crime or violation of professional rules, committed in connection with the lack of professionalism and negligence of employees in the laboratory, which are actually jeopardized my performance in Rio 2016.

I would be grateful for the prompt response. “
Efimova was recently included on Russia’s Olympic roster, as her status for Rio remains up in the air.
Read the original report (in Russian)Â here.
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All of that is very boring.
Head in the sand stuff Bobo??? Let’s be serious. She was caught 4 / 5 times. She got lucky once.
I’m still astounded that these cheats ain’t banned for life.
Can’t people read and understand! She wants all tests to be positive. If they are all positive then it is a residual detection. If there is a mixture then she is guilty of taking it after Jan 1.
She was robbed because all were positive.
Her January test sample was negative (which was not the salt lake city one). So after negative result in January, her subsequent samples in February and March yielded positive result (with the exception of salt lake city sample)
When does WADA or FINA or whoever make the final call on her case? with no more appeals, etc…. Everyone is tired of this case. She is guilty ….again….but might slip through the system
well it looks like she will be in Rio for sure. I was really hoping she would get a ban so I could write in the comment section “bye Felicia” but i wont be able to do that for real.
This whole thing makes my head wanna explode.
Got to go with the flow TAA . Accept some things & move on or out. Maybe you should skip the Olympics . I lasted 4 days in Athens , 3 in Beijing & 2 in London & I don’t think I’ll make 1 in Rio.
have to laugh – ” this investigation should be considered as a priority in the fight for the purity of the sport” – from someone who care less about the purity of the sport. But maybe this investigation will tell us whether the lab received big money to change the result so she can get all positives!
Lance Armstrong denied all the way until he finally admitted. Yulia Efimova admitted taken PED (oh I stopped before turn of the year!) and find a way to mock the system. WADA is the only one to blame with reverse course.
Lesson learned for WADA – if someone is taking a substance to cheat, it is okay to catch them even though… Read more »
Good job blaming the labs!! Lance would be proud!!
July 1999: “I have been on my deathbed, and I’m not stupid. I can emphatically say I am not on drugs.”
Dec 2000: “We are completely innocent. We run a very clean and professional team that has been singled out due to our success … Before this ordeal I had never heard of [the performance-enhancing drug Actovegin].”
Jan 2001: “The simple truth is that we outwork everyone. But when you perform at a higher level in a race, you get questions about doping.”
Jan 2004: “I have never had a single positive doping test, and I do not take performance-enhancing drugs.”
July 2004: “We’re sick and tired of these allegations… Read more »
No bigger fraud in sports and he ruined people along the way to keep it a secret. Hopefully none of these abusers come close to Armstrong.
He is up there for sure. But no bigger fraud in sports? East Germans, Chinese, Russians. Loads of athletes, across many sports. Those were pretty big.
Morrow3, I will give credit where credit is due. Those cold war cheats certainly got a lot of athletes through the system undectected. But the East Germans, Chinese, Russians did their cheating behind walls and borders. Lance went to other countries where WADA, cycling commission and USA doping people were watching him like hawks and testing him. Crazy.
Armstrong with the help of a doctor pulled off 7 years of winning while EVERYONE was out to get him and were giving him tests every time the wind changed direction. It’s awe-inspiring in a negative way. Watch a movie called “The Armstrong Lie”. It’s mesmerizing. You get to watch a true sociopath at work. Don’t be embarrassed if it makes… Read more »
Sounds like Wall St Banks & collusion . No one ever got rolled for the GFC. We the ppl used to think sports could be somehow cleaner more noble & purer. Well the first Olympics descended into war values & we are at that stage again .
12 months ago I would have hoped Rio could be a bit of a respite from the general troubles of world conflict but I don’t anymore. I look at Euro football on at present & I think big nation based sport is finished.
individual competitions & teams will survive but but without govt , inter govt & big corporation support they will be a shadow of today. However they might be friendlier.
Instead… Read more »
Clearly drug testing throughout the the time Lance was active was not very good.
It wasn’t so much the testing that was bad, but the controls around it. He would often swap out urine samples with the help of teammates and wife to hide the doping. He was cleaver, crafty and ruthless not letting anyone stand in his way. He’ll always be the GOAT of a dirty event. If you don’t think it’s dirty go ahead and admire the rich history of the Tour de France. It’s something that the “cold war cheats” would be proud of as ITSNOTBREASTSTROKEANYMORE stated :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_at_the_Tour_de_France
What a horrible thing for her to go through. The Olympics are just around the corner and she’s having to deal with a potentially incompetent lab. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and she’ll be cleared, but the damage to her had already been done through this process. Her preparations had to of suffered being uprooted from her training group and she was in line for gold in both the 100/200.
Shattered dreams.
4 out of 5 tests were positive for the presence of a banned substance. This is the second time she has tested positive for banned substances. Let’s be realistic about poor pitiful Efimova.
The first time she took a drug was because she didn’t speak or know how to read English and the worker at the vitamin shop gave it to her. This time she took a sample of a drug. But it was not illegal when she took it. What is up with all the haters?! She is a really nice person.
You must be kidding. Four other tests in labs on two other cities also popped positive tests. How do cooler heads prevail to set that aside? There is also no evidence of lower positives — evidence that the traces in her system were diminishing at a rate from February into March. The focus on the Salt Lake lab is a canard…there is no logic to vacate her guilt. That written, her lawyers have been doing an excellent job pleading this. At bottom, the problem here is Yuliya is lying: the backstory that she tapered off this drug by December 31st & that the only traces in her system were from that dated use are simply nonsensical.
could you clarify what a positive and negative sample indicate. Does positive result mean meldonium was present?
Yes, positive means there was a banned substance found. Negative means it was clean.
This is all very confusing, but I think the issue is, if she had positive tests, and negative test, and then another positive test, it indicates she took the drug, then didn’t, and then took it again. She’s arguing that she took the drug, but stopped as of January 1, but it was still in her system. If she has a negative test in there, the following positive test likely isn’t from before January 1, but from new use after the last negative test.
Thank you for clarifying!
I had to read it quite a few times to figure it out!
No .It means that should all the tests bepositive ( which in the end they all
were) then she is under the WADA backdown /Retraction of suspensions.
Should they all be under the provisionally allowable levelz ( As stated by her former coach) she is in the clear.
Your hatred is blinding you .I n this line of emotion I could do hate too .Stupid mormons – who could trust a ppl who believe that stuff. See its not a good look.
You know Joseph Smith was a great athlete…he eluded greedy townspeople trying to steal the famous gold tablets that weighed nearly 50lbs by running through the wilderness and evading attackers almost like a running back, all the while saddled with a slight limp. If you can’t believe in a feat like that what can you believe in? 🙂
http://www.mormonthink.com/runningweb.htm
Exactly. Thank you for understanding the story. That is true and also, when she took the drug it was a sample size, AND… she took it before it was illegal. But it was still in her system so she was guilty.