MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) reported 15 suspected violations of anti-doping regulations by Russian athletes in December, RUSADA’s spokesperson told TASS on Friday.
"RUSADA has registered 15 cases of possible violations of anti-doping regulations in August 2024," she said adding that in all 102 suspected violations were registered by RUSADA over the past year (four in January; four in February; seven in March; four in April; six in May; 14 in June; 13 in July; seven in August; six in September; two in October; 20 in November and 15 in December).
In 2023, RUSADA reported an overall number of 150 potential violations by Russian athletes involving performance enhancing drugs. The figure for the year of 2022 was registered to stand at 135.
RUSADA Director General Veronika Loginova earlier told TASS that cases of suspected anti-doping violations involved the use of anabolic steroids, diuretics and masking agents as well as the use of meldonium, a prohibited substance.
The drug meldonium (mildronate) was placed on WADA’s prohibition list on January 1, 2016. The presence of this substance in an athlete’s bloodstream during and between competitions is a violation of the anti-doping rules. Meldonium is categorized by WADA’s blacklist as an S4 class substance (hormones and metabolic modulators).
Mildronate is a cardiovascular medication freely available for purchase at pharmacies across Russia without a doctor’s prescription.