Romania’s whole canoe kayak national team have failed a drug test and will miss the Rio Olympics. Eight Romanian canoe kayak team members had managed to qualify to this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but have lost their right to compete after testing positive for meldonium.

Canoe kayak is one of the sports that have brought Romania many Olympic medals over the years. Romanian athletes have won 34 Olympic medals, 10 of which were gold. Romania's most famous canoeist is Ivan Patzaichin, who won 4 Olympic titles.

Meldonium, which is mainly used to treat coronary artery disease, has allegedly been used by some athletes to enhance performance, especially in Russia and Eastern European countries. The drug was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances on January 1, 2016.

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova was the first high-profile athlete who was suspended after testing positive for meldonium in March this year.

Romanian runner Elena Mirela Lavric and biathlete Eva Tofalvi also tested positive for meldonium this year.

Romanian boxing champion Lucian Bute fails drug test

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Kaiac Canoe Romania on Facebook)