Mexican Athlete Has Positive Test : Drug results: Officials won’t reveal other facts in first violation of Cuban competition.
A Mexican became the first athlete at the Pan American Games involved in a doping violation, officials of the Pan American Sports Organization said Tuesday.
Eduardo Acosta, secretary for PASO president Mario Vasquez Rana, confirmed in a telephone conversation with the Associated Press, that the test of the Mexican athlete had a positive result. He abstained from giving the name of the athlete or what substance was found in the test.
Acosta said PASO officially informed the Mexican delegation that the test of one of its athletes was positive.
According to the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina, the chief physician for the Mexican delegation confirmed the positive test and said the athlete had taken medicine for a throat infection. That medicine apparently contained a banned substance.
The technical director of the Mexican delegation, Cesar Osuna, confirmed to the AP that he had received verbal notification of the positive test. But he added that his group would not make any official announcement until it receives written confirmation from PASO.
According to normal procedures, after a country admits one of its athletes used banned substances, the pertinent sports organization--in this case PASO--sends a written notification of the results of the doping test. According to International Olympic Committee rules, the athlete is then banned from all international events for 18 months.
Osuna admitted that the athlete involved won a medal, which will be stripped immediately after the written notification from PASO is received by the Mexican delegation.
Sources from the Mexican delegation told Prensa Latina that the test belonged to a rower who won a gold medal. The rowing team returned to Mexico on Monday, Osuna said.
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