Yulia Efimova Fails Doping Test, Could Face Lifetime Ban Per Russian Media

Russia’s reigning 100 breaststroke world champion Yulia Efimova has reportedly failed a doping test and could face a lifetime ban from the sport, according to Russian media.

Sport-Express.ru reports that Efimova’s failed test became public late on Wednesday night in Russian time. The site’s source says Efimova tested positive for meldonium, the same drug that tripped up tennis star Maria Sharapova earlier this month.

The Russian swimming federation confirmed in a separate story that it was aware Efimova had tested positive for meldonium.

Meldonium is a drug that increases blood flow in patients with ischemia, but it can also increase an athlete’s exercise capacity. It has been monitored by WADA since 2015 and was added to the WADA banned list starting at the beginning of 2016.

Efimova could face a penalty as harsh as a lifetime ban because this wouldn’t be her first doping offense. Efimova tested positive for 7-keto-DHEA back in 2013 and was hit with a 16-month suspension and stripped of two world records and five international medals as a punishment.

At the time, Efimova said she didn’t know the substance was illegal, saying she was told the substance was OK to take by a salesperson at GNC.

Efimova was last summer’s World Champion in the 100 breaststroke and would have contended for the 200 meter title if she hadn’t missed the final with a poor morning swim. She recently put up the world’s fastest 100 breaststroke time for this current season while winning the Arena Pro Swim Series at Orlando just a few weeks ago.

Efimova’s positive test comes after Russia has taken some significant heat for alleged doping scandals within its athletics program. That scandal included allegations that the country was compromising the integrity of its Moscow-based WADA anti-doping lab and breaking rules to keep its athletes eligible despite positive doping tests.

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Lisa
7 years ago

Strip her of her medals

Marty S Bailey
7 years ago

Or have a dope class and a no dope class.

Marty S Bailey
7 years ago

They should all take anything they want to be the best.

Julie
7 years ago

I’ve always wondered if an athlete who cheats can actually feel proud and worthy of their so called accomplishments, and feel worthy of the many rewards resulting from them. Of course, the answer is money, which overrides any sense of guilt or regret for so many unscrupulous people. However, don’t they give any value to the fact that people lose respect for them and that ultimately, despite their talent, their “rewards” are meaningless? Shame on you all, Yulia, Sun Yang, Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones and all of you. It really kills the spirit of those of us who so revere our great athletes! I actually feel sorry for you, because you can NEVER truly consider yourselves winners.

ANDRE
8 years ago

Meldonium’s official indications is for chronic heart insufficiency and ischemic disease… What does it mean?.. Never post on Instagram silly duck-faces in your swimsuit if you are at heart infarction risk LOL 🙂

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Swimfan, I don’t see the link with USC in that case.
Sharapova doesn’t train at USC.
Dozens of meldonium cases reported in the last few weeks have no link with USC.
It just shows like many athletes in the world and especially Russian athletes used to take that drug like others drink beers.

swimfan
8 years ago

USC – Universal Standard of Cheating

swimfan
Reply to  swimfan
8 years ago

NCAA may want to drug test those girls who got 2nd last night!!!

USC Fan
Reply to  swimfan
8 years ago

I know for a fact multiple USC swimmers have been drug tested multiple times this year. And no USC girl (and only Ous Mellouli for the men) has EVER tested positive in a drug test. So you and everyone else can stop the pointless accusations about USC and focus on Trojan Swim Club.

ExCollegeSwim
Reply to  USC Fan
8 years ago

You do realize that most of the athletes in NCAA get warned before a test is coming. I only know this from personal experience and watching many team mates go out to buy masking agents or urinary flush treatments to pass the tests. Don’t be so naive…..

broomjob
8 years ago

I have a novel idea.

With so much peeing going on in pools, all someone needs to do is get a sample of water from USC’s training pool to USADA/NCAA for PED testing.

Yulia’s last name is indicative of what she has done to her fellow competitors F….-em-over!

anonymoose
Reply to  broomjob
8 years ago

well i gotta give you that, thats an awesome pun ^^

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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