Ukrainian runner Lupu to miss world indoor competition over meldonium

KIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s Nataliya Lupu, the former European indoor 800-metre champion, will miss this week’s world indoor championships in Portland over her use of meldonium, the same substance which led to Maria Sharapova’s positive test at the Australian Open.

The Ukrainian track and field federation said Lupu withdrew from the championships, which begin Thursday, after the World Anti-Doping Agency “raised concerns about the use of meldonium.”

It was not immediately clear if Lupu, who won European indoor gold in 2013 and world indoor silver the year before, had been suspended from competition. WADA and the IAAF did not immediately respond to requests for clarification.

In a statement on the federation website, Lupu said she had used meldonium for 15 years for medical reasons with doctors’ prescriptions because of “certain changes in my cardiogram.”

Lupu said she stopped taking the drug in November, two months before it was officially banned.

“This time was enough for it to leave my body” before the Jan. 1 deadline, she said.

Besides Lupu, at least 19 athletes from four countries have been provisionally suspended after testing positive for meldonium, including four Olympic medal winners.

WADA said in September that meldonium, a popular heart medication in former Soviet countries, would be banned from Jan. 1, citing evidence it enhanced performance and was being widely used by athletes who did not need it for medical reasons.