MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. Russian weightlifter Kseniya Kozina has been suspended indefinitely for violations of anti-doping regulations based on data from the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, the press office of the International Testing Authority (ITA) said in a statement on Monday.
"The ITA reports that it has asserted an ADRV [Anti-Doping Rule Violation] against Russian weightlifter Kseniya Kozina under Article 2.2 (Use or Attempted Use by an Athlete of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method) of the IWF [the International Weightlifting Federation] Anti-Doping Rules," the statement reads.
"The assertion is based on investigations conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Intelligence and Investigation Department (WADA I&I) and by Professor Richard McLaren into allegations of systemic doping practices in Russian sport as well as Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) data retrieved by WADA I&I over time," the ITA’s press service stated.
According to the statement, "LIMS [Moscow Laboratory Information Management System] data as well as underlying analytical data pertaining to a sample provided by Kseniya Kozina in 2014 which contained the prohibited anabolic agent Ostarine."
"The athlete has been informed of the case and has been provisionally suspended until the resolution of the matter," the ITA’s press office noted.
"Pursuant to the IWF’s delegation of its anti-doping program to the ITA, the prosecution of the case is being handled entirely by the ITA," the statement reads. "Given that the case is underway, there will be no further comments during the ongoing proceeding."
Kozina, born in 1996, is the winner of the 2021 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships in the under 49-kilograms weight category.