Report: Abeba Aregawi's B-sample tests positive for Meldonium
The B-sample for Swedish distance runner Abeba Aregawi, the 2013 world champion at 1,500 meters, has tested positive for Meldonium, her agent tells Swedish television SVT on Wednesday.
Agent Jos Hermens said Aregawi was cooperating with investigators from the International Association of Athletics Federations after it was announced that she tested positive for her A-sample last week.
Aregawi was born in Ethiopia and switched allegiances to Sweden in December 2012.
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Aregawi won gold at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, when she ran 4:02.67 in the 1,500-meter final to finish ahead of American Jenny Simpson. The victory by Aregawi denied Simpson’s second consecutive gold medal in the 1,500 meters at the world championships.
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Aregawi ran a season’s best of 3:57:58 or faster from 2012 to 2014 before running just 4:01.97 in 2015. She finished sixth in the 1,500-meter final at the 2015 world championships.
Meldonium is the same drug that tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive for at the Australian Open. The drug was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances on Jan. 1, 2016.
