Russian Nikolai Kuksenkov positiv for Meldonium

European Team champion gymnast Nikolai Kuksenkov has become the latest Russian sportsman to test positive for the banned drug meldonium, local Ukrainian media reported Sunday, April 3. "The sample which Kuksenkov gave for testing on March 15 showed the presence of the traces of meldonium," the Allsport agency quoted Russia's national gymnastics team head coach Valentina Rodionenko as saying. Rodionenko added that the gymnast took meldonium last year, before the drug has been included into the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list on January 1.
The 26-year-old Mykola Kuksenkov, who competed for Ukraine before 2012, finished fourth in the all-round event at London Olympics.
He won the 2014 European Team championship in Moscow and was the top Russian gymnast at the 2015 World Championships, finishing 6^th in the all-around after joining the Russian team.
Kuksenkov's is the first known doping case in gymnastics involving meldonium. More than 20 other Russians across all sports have tested positive for meldonium, which was banned on Jan. 1, with at least 123 cases worldwide.
Last weekend Kuksenkov won the 2016 National All-around Championship in Pensa .
Nikolai Kuksenkov withdrew from the national championships after being informed of the failed doping test on Saturday, a day after winning the 2016 national individual all-around title. Kuksenkov had not taken meldonium since August, Russia team coach Valentina Rodionenko told the Russian Ves Sport agency. "As yet, no one knows how long a period is needed for meldonium to leave the body," she said. "It's a kind of wild, wrong situation, which needs to be sorted out with joint effort."