According to , one of Russia’s best high jumpers, winner of two national championships (2019, 2020), 27-year-old Alexander Asanov is suspected of using illicit drugs. The substance found in his system is the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide.
The sample was taken by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in 2021, and now the athlete is in the status of a temporary suspension from competition. His last official start was last January. At the same time, in June 2021, Asanov entered the group of Russian athletes admitted by the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics) to the competition as neutral athletes. In other words, theoretically, an athlete, during the passage of the national selection, could participate in the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic considered to mask, that is to say hide the traces of the use of other illegal drugs. In this case, diuretics are often part of other substances and can involuntarily enter the body. Known drug victims in Russia include hockey player Danis Zaripov and cyclist Alexander Kolobnev. The latter was subsequently acquitted, believing that Kolobnev was using hydrochlorothiazide “for medical reasons unrelated to sports activities”.
has asked Alexander Asanov for comment.
Source : MatchTV
