The athlete, whose nationality has also not been named, tested positive for the banned diuretic furosemide.

After reviewing the case, the IOC Disciplinary Commission, set up by IOC President Thomas Bach and chaired by Canada's Dick Pound, disqualified the athlete from the Games, held in the Chinese city from August 16 to 28.

Their identity is being kept secret due to the fact the athlete was a minor at the time of the violation, with the length of the ban also yet to be disclosed. 

This marks the first anti doping case to emerge surrounding Nanjing 2014, and is a major blow considering the effort that has been made to encourage clean sport among young athletes. 

The Disciplinary Commission has also called upon the World Taekwondo Federation and the respective National Olympic Committee to gather additional information in relation to the circumstances that led to such an violation.

Educating young athletes about the dangers of doping is a key aspect of the Youth Olympic concept ©Getty Images



They will consider the athlete, but also the entourage - be it coaches, doctors or other medical staff - an IOC statement added.

A "strong emphasis" is being placed on investigating the entourage of the athletes, it was explained, with a Commission chaired by IOC Executive Board member Sergey Bubka specifically created in 2010 to address this.

Education on anti-doping, in particular for young athletes, is seen as essential to protect clean athletes, with a "Learn and Share" Programme having taken place in Nanjing to instill good standards at a young age. 

But in recent months, a number of cases have emerged involving tennagers, including at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where 16-year-old weightlifter Chika Amalaha was stripped of the under 53 kilogram gold medal she initially won, also failing for diuretics.

Chika Amalaha was stripped of weightlifting gold after testing positive at Glasgow 2014 ©AFP/Getty Images



In September, 15-year-old Russian twins Olga and Yelena Paushkina were each handed two-year bans after failing for unspecified substances.

At the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010, under 50 kilogram Greco Roman wrestling silver medallist Nurbek Hakkulov of Uzbekistan and under 63 kg freestyle wrestler Johnny Pilay of Ecuador, were each disqualified for failing tests.

Both tested positive for furosemide.

A total of 596 tests, 490 urine and 106 blood, were conducted during Nanjing 2014, with all samples tested at the World Anti Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Beijing.

All substances will be kept for 10 years to conduct further analysis should new tests and methods become available.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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