Russian canoeist banned for using EPO

Zhestkov Oleg, a Russian canoe sprint athlete who competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics , has returned a positive drug test to the banned substance EPO and will be banned from all competition for a period of four years.

Oleg, who was part of the Russian K4 1000 crew that finished fourth at the Rio Olympics, returned the positive after an out-of-competition test carried out by the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA) at the end of March this year.

Oleg won gold as a member of a Russian K4 1000 crew at an ICF canoe sprint world cup in Duisburg in 2013. He last competed at last year’s ICF canoe sprint world championships in Montemor, where the Russian men’s K4 crew finished fourth.

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